As the global entertainment market stabilises, findings from Futuresource Consulting’s Living With Digital study reveal a shift away from platform competition towards a more interconnected content ecosystem.
Drawing on a nationally representative study of 14,000 consumers, across 7-markets, the research highlights how audiences are increasingly engaging across cinema, streaming and transactional formats, with each playing a distinct role in the content journey.
“A lot of individual sector trends are stable, but the entertainment market continues to evolve and see audiences engage with content in variety of different ways.” said Anastasia Budash, Lead Video Market Analyst, Futuresource Consulting. “The most valuable audiences are those engaging across formats, and that’s where we’re seeing the strongest growth opportunity. The focus now is how effectively the industry connects those touchpoints to drive deeper engagement.”
Cinema recovery strengthens, led by core audiences
Following a strong 2025, cinema attendance and frequency continue to recover across key markets. Growth is particularly evident in France and Germany, with audiences aged 26–45 driving the most significant increase in visits.
This reinforces cinema’s role not as a declining channel, but as a critical starting point for high-value content engagement.
Transactional regains momentum as premium windows gain traction
Across Europe and North America, digital transactional engagement is strengthening. Premium release windows are playing an increasingly important role, with 20 per cent of consumers now willing to pay higher early access pricing.
Demand is strongest in the UK and US, while markets such as Germany, Italy and Spain are seeing notable growth. Engagement is also expanding among older audiences, particularly those aged 46–65.
Streaming matures as growth shifts to ad-supported models
Subscription streaming is entering a more mature phase. Household penetration growth is slowing and the average number of paid for services has plateaued on average at 2.8 per household.
Future growth is increasingly driven by ad-supported tiers and bundling strategies. Today, 66 per cent of households have access to at least one service offering an ad-supported model, highlighting a clear shift in how value is delivered.
AVoD and FAST expand as connected TV adoption rises
Ad-supported video services continue to scale, supported by the growth of the connected TV install base.
– 4 in 10 households engage with at least one AVoD service
– The US leads at 64 per cent, with Spain emerging as a key European growth market
– These platforms are becoming a secondary window for content distribution, supported by improved functionality and broader content availability.
A connected ecosystem, not competing platforms
The overarching trend is clear: consumer behaviour is no longer defined by a single format. Instead, audiences are moving fluidly between cinema, streaming and transactional services.
For content owners, platforms and distributors, the implication is significant. Growth will come not from competing channels, but from understanding how these touchpoints connect and reinforcing engagement across the full content lifecycle.
“As streaming matures and new models emerge, the focus is shifting to value. Whether that’s premium windows, ad-supported tiers or bundled access, success will come from delivering the right proposition at each stage of the content journey,” said James Duvall, Principal Analyst, at Futuresource Consulting.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.advanced-television.com ’
