Home entertainment content spending topped $30 billion in 2020, driven by the huge shift toward digital consumption amid COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, Redhill Group President Judith McCourt told a Digital Entertainment Group webinar Wednesday. Digital content spending jumped 32.6% to $26.53 billion, but physical media sales declined 25.6% to $2.45 billion, and content rentals fell 26.8% to $1.04 billion, she said. Streaming generated 80% of the digital spending in 2020, rising 37.2% to $21.22 billion, she said. Total 2020 home entertainment spending jumped 21% for the year, peaking at a 34% increase in Q2, when COVID-19 lockdowns began in full force, said McCourt. Spending increased 19% in Q1, 18% in Q3 and 16% in Q4, she said.

That the “secular shift” toward streaming video adoption “accelerated heavily” in 2020 amid COVID-19 spurred S&P to upgrade Netflix to BB+ from BB, said the ratings service Tuesday. Consumers “spent more time at home and consumed increasing amounts of in-home entertainment,” said S&P. “All streaming services benefitted from this trend, but Netflix, the leader in the sector, saw an unprecedented shift.” The company ended 2020 with 203.7 million subscribers, compared with S&P’s guidance of 195 million. Netflix had 8.51 million global net subscriber additions in Q4, beating its Oct. 20 forecast by nearly 42% (see 2101190066). S&P doesn’t expect Netflix to “revert” back to pre-2020 “metrics” because the pandemic “accelerated the adoption of streaming video services globally,” it said. “This should mitigate the impact of increasing competition as many new streaming services launched over the past year” or so, including Disney+, HBO Max and Peacock, it said. The analysis didn’t factor in the possible impact of Netflix price increases being phased in over the next 30 days. Netflix emailed subscribers in recent days that it will raise the premium tier by $2 to $17.99 monthly and the standard plan by $1 to $13.99. The increases take effect in late February.

Streaming accounts for a quarter of all TV viewed in the U.S., Resonate reported. Eight million Americans have boosted their streaming viewership during the pandemic, 41% watch through a streaming service, it said Monday, predicting a $9 billion over-the-top video ad spend in 2021. Connecting with streaming viewers is “vital” to business growth, but it’s a “nuanced” audience that’s different from traditional cable TV subscribers, said Resonate. OTT viewers are 141% more likely to watch TV through a streaming device; 52% are female; 24% are 25-34 years old; 24% have annual income of $25,000-$50,000; 33% spend 20-40 hours online per week; and 79% have some college education. The most-watched streaming networks are Netflix (76%), Amazon Prime Video (59%), Disney+ (46%) and Hulu (41%). Some 47% watch via the Roku platform. Half have cable TV; 39% have cut the cord. About 23% have rented three or more streamed movies in the past 90 days; 79% watch TV from 7-10 p.m.; 43% often binge-watch; a third are online on their phone while watching TV; 26% watch TV only on-demand; and 6% are likely to try a new subscription in the next 90 days.

Netflix had 8.51 million global net subscriber additions in Q4, beating its Oct. 20 forecast by nearly 42%, said the company Tuesday. It finished 2020 with 36.6 million net subscriber adds, well above the previous high of 28.6 million in 2018, and 31% above the company’s 2019 performance. The result was 2.9% off the pace of the 2019 quarter, vs. projections of a 32% year-on-year decline. Netflix surpassed 200 million subscribers for the first time. “The big growth in streaming entertainment has led legacy competitors like Disney, WarnerMedia and Discovery to compete with us in new ways, which we’ve been expecting for many years,” said the quarterly shareholder letter. “This is, in part, why we have been moving so quickly to grow and further strengthen our original content library across a wide range of genres and nations.” Netflix is forecasting 6 million paid net adds for Q1, which would be 62% below the level achieved in the 2020 quarter, when COVID-19 lockdowns sent subscriber growth through the roof. The stock was trending 9.8% higher in after-hours trading to $551.35.

ViacomCBS' Paramount+ streaming service goes live March 4 in the U.S. and Latin America, with launches March 25 in Nordic countries and in mid-2021 in Australia, it said Tuesday. It said its CBS All Access service in Canada will be rebranded to Paramount+ on March 4, with an expanded offering available later in the year.

Netflix's recently announced 2021 slate of original films, enough to release at least one new original movie every week, is an “ambitious and costly goal, particularly as the service is touting its A-List-driven content,” Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter wrote investors Thursday. He expects 2021 content consumption to track with 2020 levels but to normalize as COVID-19 vaccinations reach a large portion of the population, which Wedbush estimates at Q3. It expects Netflix to reach break-even by year-end 2022 “as content consumption normalizes, subscribers grow and content spend once again ramps higher.” COVID-19 restrictions limiting Netflix’s ability to produce content accelerated the company’s path to generating free cash flow, Pachter said. Wedbush modeled Q4 revenue at $6.58 billion, with subscriber net additions of 300,000 domestically, 4.7 million internationally. Netflix reports earnings Tuesday.

Sonos announced new artist channels and genre stations for Sonos Radio and Sonos Radio HD Wednesday. It’s adding stations from D’Angelo, FKA twigs, Bjork and The Chemical Brothers, including select songs and commentary, and new radio shows from Dolly Parton, Brittany Howard, Thom Yorke and Third Man Records. The Sonos Sound System station will launch new shows, including a podcast about music that’s shaping culture, it said. The first artist station to launch, D’Angelo’s Feverish Fantazmagoria, began streaming Wednesday, with others scheduled to come online over the next few weeks. Sonos Radio is included with Sonos subscriptions globally, preloaded in the Sonos app. Sonos Radio HD offers original content that streams ad-free in CD-quality audio, with skip and repeat capability, for $7.99 per month in the U.S. and U.K.

ViacomCBS and Sinclair signed a multiyear affiliation agreement covering 13 Sinclair stations, including WKRC-TV Cincinnati; WPEC West Palm Beach, Florida; WWMT Kalamazoo, Michigan; and WHP-TV Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, ViacomCBS said Wednesday. It said Sinclair’s CBS affiliates will stay locally available to subscribers of the CBS All Access streaming service.

Gracenote introduced live sports widgets to help smart TV and car manufacturers enable dynamic sports experiences, it said Wednesday. A smart TV maker can present previews of upcoming games featuring a viewer’s favorite teams followed by updates during game play, it said. Notifications can be created to direct viewers to a game broadcast or stream on a preferred service, said the Nielsen company. A connected car can display scores optimized for viewing easily on vehicle infotainment screens, it said. At launch, sports widgets will cover major North American sports leagues and international football leagues.

Broadband and video subscribers of Charter Communications' Spectrum get an extended free trial of NBCUniversal's Peacock Premium streaming service, the companies said Thursday, announcing a multiyear distribution agreement. They said Charter is distributing the Peacock app via its Spectrum Guide platform.