MPA Report Shows Impact Of Streaming With Growth In Subscriptions, Production; Theatrical Box Office Rises But Still Lags Pre-Covid Levels

The Motion Picture Association’s annual theme report shows what is readily apparent across the industry: The impact of streaming.

The U.S. and Canadian box office reached $4.5 billion, up 105 percent from 2020, but still lower than pre-pandemic levels.

But the combined theatrical and home and mobile market was $36.8 billion in 2021,  surpassing the pre-Covid figure of $36.1 billion in 2019. Read the full report here.

In 2021, the number of online video subscriptions, or streaming, in the U.S. increased to 353.2 million, up 14% from 2020. The number of virtual pay TV subscriptions — like those offered by YouTube TV and Hulu — also increased to 14.5 million, up 18% from 2020.

Meanwhile, cable and satellite subscriptions showed a slight decrease.

In revenue, online video subscription revenue even surpassed that of satellite, an increase of 24% to $40.2 billion. Cable TV was still the largest subscription revenue market, but it was down 3% to $49.0 billion.

The MPA report also includes a number of other data points to show the growth of streaming. A total of 1,826 original series were released in 2021, including 559 scripted shows. That was an increase of 15% from 2020, which the association was due in part to production for online services. Last year, those streaming services produced a total of 693 series, compared to 451 a year earlier. Cable and satellite had 887 series, versus 910 in 2020, and there were 246 broadcast series, up slightly from 228 in 2020.

The streaming services produced 179 original films exclusively to their platforms last year. That is comparable to a year earlier, but a 60% increase from 2019. Since the start of the pandemic, 53% of adults in the U.S. reported that their viewing of movies and TV shows on a streaming service increased, and 42% said that their viewing on pay TV sources, like cable and satellite, increased.

Overall, subscriptions to streaming services reached 1.3 billion worldwide. That’s up 14% from 2020, similar to the boost in the U.S.

There was a big increase in theatrical production. According to the MPA, 943 films entered production during the year, a boost of 111% from the previous year.

Still, while the number of movies released in theaters the U.S. and Canada rose to 387, that’s well below the 987 in 2019. MPA member studios released 96 movies, compared to 124 in 2019, and non-members released 291, from 863 the year before the pandemic.

A big question is whether the pandemic accelerated a shift in viewing habits — at the expense of brick-and-mortar theaters.

The MPA said that the global box office reached $21.3 billion last year, which was up 81% from 2020 but still below the previous year. The top markets outside the U.S. and Canada were China, with $7.3 billion, including online ticketing fees; Japan, with $1.5 billion, and the UK, at $0.8 billion.

In the U.S. and Canada, per capita attendance was highest among those 12-17, and among Hispanic/Latino moviegoers. The figures suggest a slower rebound among older audiences, or moviegoers 50+. That age group makes up 36% of the U.S./Canada population but just 19% of moviegoers. By contrast, those aged 2-24 make up 30% of the population but 42% of moviegoers.

The global theatrical and home entertainment market reached $99.7 billion in 2021, which surpassed 2019. Including the pay TV market (cable, satellite, on-demand0, the figure was $328.2 billion, matching a record set in 2019.

Charles Rivkin, the chairman and CEO of the MPA, said in a statement, “We are just getting started in writing the next chapter of our industry as streaming continues to boom, theaters are rebounding, and the overall global market for our entertainment product recovers and breaks records.”

Other data:

What’s Being Watched: The top streamed movie was Luca on Disney+, while the top original series was Lucifer on Netflix. Criminal Minds, on Netflix, was the top acquired series. The figures are from Nielsen and are based on minutes streamed. Yellowstone: Season One had the most weeks in DEG’s Top 20 “Watched at Home” list.

Disc Burnout: Physical media — sales of Blu Rays and DVDs — continued to fall. In the U.S., revenue was $2.8 billion, off by 20% versus 2020. Worldwide, the drop was 16% to $3.7 billion.

Online Experience: Viewing movies online grew by 15% versus a year earlier, and streaming of TV shows increased by 5%.

Screen shift: The time that adults in the U.S. spent watching TV per day fell by 17 minutes to 3 hours, 16 minutes. But they may have simply shifted to other devices, such as apps on a smart TV, as that viewing increased by 6 minutes to one hour and 11 minutes.