Independent online comparison service moneyland.ch conducted a representative online survey to determine the use of video streaming and audio streaming services in Switzerland in early 2020. The survey follows the 2018 streaming survey by moneyland.ch for which market research institute Ipsos (formerly GfK Switzerland) surveyed the streaming habits of 1500 residents.
The results show that the use of streaming services by consumers in Switzerland has risen drastically – particularly with regards to dominant service providers Netflix and Spotify. A high 85% of the Swiss consumers now use at least one of the 25 streaming services included in the survey. The survey also shows that Swiss telecom service providers like Swisscom, Sunrise and UPC have not yet been successful in competing against foreign streaming giants. “The coronavirus crisis will likely amplify the streaming trend even further,” believes Ralf Beyeler, telecom expert at independent online comparison service moneyland.ch.
YouTube is the most widely used streaming service
65% of Swiss consumers use YouTube – an increase of 4% from 2018. Of those consumers, the vast majority use the free version. Only 3% of consumers use paid YouTube services.
Young adults use YouTube much more often than older adults. A high 83% of survey participants aged 18 to 25 stream videos from YouTube, compared to “just” half of adults aged 50 to 74.
Netflix has extended its dominant position
The Netflix user base in Switzerland has grown significantly in recent years. In April 2018, a moderate 20% of participants used Netflix, with 13% paying for it, as per the results of the 2018 moneyland.ch streaming survey.
Now – around two years later – Netflix has more than twice as many users. A high 45% of survey participants use Netflix, making it the second most popular streaming service in Switzerland after YouTube. An extraordinary 30% of Swiss consumers pay for Netflix.
Netflix is the most widely used paid streaming service in Switzerland. Around one-third of all adults between the ages of 18 and 74 years old pay for Netflix services. Another 14% use Netflix for free, with 10% accessing Netflix via friends’ accounts.
Streaming series and movies via Netflix is most popular among young adults. A high 75% of adults aged 18 to 25 use Netflix, compared to 51% of adults aged 25 to 49 and 26% of adults aged 50 to 74.
Spotify is the most popular music streaming service
Spotify has gained significant ground in Switzerland over the past two years. A high 35% of Swiss consumers now use Spotify, up from 20% of consumers in April 2018. That means that more than one-third of adults now stream music via Spotify, making it the most popular music streaming service in Switzerland. 16% of consumers – just under half of Spotify users – pay for Spotify services.
Spotify is most popular among young adults, with 68% of adults between the ages of 18 and 25 years old using its product. That is compared to 41% of adults aged 26 to 49 and 15% of adults aged 50 to 74.
Streaming is more popular with young people
85% of participants use at least one streaming service. But there are major differences between age groups.
Practically all participants between the ages of 18 and 25 use streaming products. 99% of adults aged 18 to 25, 91% of adults aged 26 to 49 and 73% of adults aged 50 to 74 use at least one music or video streaming service.
Young people also show an above-average willingness to pay for streaming services. 74% of adults aged 18 to 25 pay for at least one streaming service, compared to 58% of adults aged 25 to 49 and 32% of adults aged 50 to 74.
Streaming is more popular among the urban population
The popularity of streaming services is identical among women and men. There are also no notable differences in streaming habits between German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland. However, differences between the urban and rural population can be observed.
Netflix is used by 46% of urban adults, compared to 39% of rural adults. Spotify is used by 36% or urban adults, compared to 30% of rural adults. YouTube is used by 67% of urban adults, compared to 62% of rural adults.
How many consumers pay to stream?
One out of two survey participants pays for at least one streaming service. There are major differences between streaming services. Netflix has the most paying customers, with 30% of adults aged 18 to 74 paying for it, followed by Spotify (16%), Swisscom (11%) and Apple Music (6%).
Sport streaming services remain marginal
Both major sports streaming services, Sky Sports and DAZN, target sports enthusiasts with numerous sports broadcasts. But the survey results show that sports streaming is not hugely popular in Switzerland. Just 7% of participants use a sports streaming service. Just under 2% of participants use both DAZN and Sky Sports.
Less-popular services struggle to compete
The three streaming giants YouTube, Netflix and Spotify completely dominate the Swiss streaming market. Less popular services, including streaming options from tech giants Apple, Google and Amazon, have not yet been able to successfully position themselves in the Swiss market. Interestingly, the video streaming service from Amazon has grown its user base at the same rate as Netflix, but its market share is far smaller.
Netflix, Amazon and Disney+ compete for market share
“For consumers considering a streaming service, it is all about content. The success of a video streaming service comes down to which movies and series it is able to offer,” explains Ralf Beyeler. In Switzerland, Netflix currently has around six times the number of users that Amazon Prime Video has, and around 15 times the number of users that Sky Show has. “It will be interesting to see whether Disney+ will be able to claim a significant market share among Swiss consumers,” muses Beyeler.
If you only consider consumers who pay for at least one of the three established streaming services Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Sky Show, you get this picture: 29% of consumers in this group pay for just one streaming service, 1.5% pay for two streaming services and 0.5% have paid subscriptions for all three.
Currently, only a minority of consumers are willing to pay for more than one video streaming service. All streaming service providers hope to be the one that consumers choose to subscribe to. Publishing exclusive content is one means of encouraging new customer subscriptions. “The question will be whether and how smaller streaming services can convince consumers to take on subscriptions in addition to Netflix, or ideally to migrate to from Netflix to their services,” states Ralf Beyeler.
Video streaming services by popularity
The most popular streaming service in Switzerland in terms of users is YouTube, with 65% of consumers using the Google streaming service. YouTube is followed by Netflix (45%), Swisscom (18%), Apple (14%), Google Play (12%), UPC (7%), Amazon (7%), Teleclub Play (6%), Sunrise (5%), DAZN (4%), Sky Sports (4%), Sky Show (3%), Netzkino (3%), Hollystar (2%) and Watchbox (2%). You can find a graphic overview of the video streaming survey here.
Audio streaming services by popularity
The most popular audio streaming service in Switzerland is Spotify, with 35% of survey participants using Spotify to stream music. Spotify is followed by Apple Music (15%), Google Play (10%), SoundCloud (8%), Amazon (5%), Deezer (5%), Napster (2%), Tidal (2%) and Qobux (2%). As a whole, music streaming is far less popular in Switzerland than video streaming. You can find an overview of the music streaming services in Switzerland here.
More on this topic:
Video streaming comparison
Music streaming comparison
Deal of the Day 
