Amazon and Netflix are heavily investing in their own content using UHD technologies, according to a new report from IHS Markit.
SVoD services have among the lowest revenue per hour of content viewed and of paid content services, making premium content a greater investment according to the white paper.
While films comprise the largest number of UHD titles, TV series offer a better return on hours of content viewed per dollar invested, the IHS Markit white paper said.
In the UK, Netflix offers 63 UHD titles (including award-winning drama The Crown); Amazon Prime and Amazon Instant have 28 and Sky has 26.
“Online video producers generally offer a broader range of UHD genres than traditional pay TV platforms,” said Jonathan Broughton, senior home entertainment analyst, IHS Markit.
“To compete, the budgets have grown dramatically to fulfil their ‘blockbuster’ needs. We are now seeing TV drama budgets around the same levels as major theatrical releases. This means that more expensive production methods involved in UHD make up a smaller proportion of the total budget.”
