Polish streaming services have already become an integral part of the marketing campaigns of both large brands and completely new brands that want to benefit from the exceptionally dynamic trend of TV on demand. The local customer is more likely to use services or products that are subconsciously combined with a personalised offer of movies and serials, which is separated by one click of the “play” button.
Why?
TV streaming services and VOD market in Poland has especially accustomed younger audiences (but also older generations) to the freedom of choice, which makes the reception of advertisements and placement much more “virulent” than in traditional media. What platforms should every creative team pay attention to?
Table of Contents:
- The Polish streaming services market in numbers
- Global platforms:
- European TV streaming:
- Polish platforms:
The Polish streaming services market in numbers
In Poland, traditional television is losing a lot to popular streaming platforms. During the first lockdown, especially younger groups of viewers were more likely to buy VOD subscriptions, although TV on demand is slowly becoming a family trend. According to the latest “Digital Consumer Trends” survey by Deloitte, two out of three Poles pay for access to streaming platforms (one-off or in the subscription model).
McKensey report “Digital Poles” from 2020 shows that domestic viewers still lag behind the French, British and Americans, who declare an advantage of content on demand by 60% up to 80%. However, this is not a novelty, because Western countries had access to this type of technology much earlier than Poles. This shows that the streaming platform market on the Vistula River is a niche with great potential – both in terms of development and advertising.
There are already people at the centre of the TV battle between streaming and traditional media. As much as 95% of households that regularly use pay-TV packages and pay for VOD content at the same time, do not intend to change the current offer. This is a very good signal for potential advertisers.
On what devices do Poles most often use streaming services?
As data from the VideoTrack 8 study by Wavemaker agency shows that nearly 6 out of 10 them prefer using streaming services on their television (if they have a choice); 45% choose laptops, and 31% – mobile phones. The latter has relatively more fans among the youngest viewers (16-24 years old), partly due to their more mobile lifestyle. Smart TVs are most popular among the 35-54 age group.
Global streaming services in Poland
Of course, most media streaming platforms in Poland are among the global players. Some have permanently passed into both the colloquial language and local pop culture, which creates a very specific image of a given VOD in the eyes of potential customers. It is also an important signal for your brand, because if you bet on a larger budget, but also more reliable campaign effects – global streaming platforms are a step in the right direction.
Netflix – a leader among global players
Probably the first association of a statistical Pole in the context of streaming services will be Netflix. The platform has been operating here since 2016 and, according to theWirtualnemedia.pl, in March 2024 recorded 10,5 mln users, giving it a 35% market share. This is a number that overshadows the competition, as Netflix has over three times as many subscribers as its biggest rivals, such as Disney+ or HBO Max.
This also places Poland in fifth position in Europe in terms of the size of the American streamer’s market – ahead of us are the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, and Italy. Netflix has the largest library of movies and TV shows among all competitors on the Polish market. Even after implementing restrictions in account sharing policy, the platform’s popularity remains untouched.
What distinguishes this platform from the competition? First of all, effective localisation activities, i.e. spots with the involvement of Polish celebrities, numerous cultural references and national productions (including “All my friends are dead”, “Sexify” or “1983”). Netflix Polska also creates 100% Polish productions – TV series (“High Water”, “Feedback”) and movies (“Forgotten Love”).
Check out the official Netlfix website
Disney+ – new upcoming leader?
The platform entered the Polish streaming market in 2022. In March 2024, Disney+ recorded almost 3.5 million real users in Poland and a reach of 11.64%. The average Pole spent 2 hours and 11 minutes on the service (for comparison – Netflix recorded 5 hours and 55 minutes during this time).
The platform was climbing to the position of leader, surpassing HBO Max in popularity rankings. Recently, however, it has experienced a decline in users due to a 30% increase in the monthly subscription price.
In addition to original productions from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm, we also find a catalogue of movies and TV series from Hulu, FX, and ABC, as well as from 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures, which offer productions for slightly older audiences. Many films also have Polish dubbing, so the platform is interesting for the youngest viewers. Disney+ is an excellent service, offering streaming content regardless of the viewer’s age.
Check out the official Disney+ website
MAX – former HBO Max
The HBO streaming platform has been operating on the Polish market since 2010 – starting as HBO GO, then evolving into HBO Max. In June 2024, after the merger of Warner Bros. with Discovery+, the platform was rebranded as Max.
In March 2024 HBO Max recorded 2.63 million real users and an 8.85% reach. The service has recently been experiencing declines and loss of users. Max is currently in 5th place in terms of the number of users, right after Netflix, Disney+, Player and TVP VOD.
HBO Max was known for many investments in local productions, including Polish HBO original series such as “Blinded by the Lights”, “The Thaw”, and “Wataha”. However, due to the merger and cost-cutting measures, it was announced that Warner Bros. would reduce investments in local productions. This means that Polish viewers will not be able to enjoy Polish productions as frequently, which were known for their high quality. Additionally, the Polish branch of HBO has already been dissolved. We don’t know yet how this will affect its popularity among Poles.
Check out the official HBO Max website
Amazon Prime Video – a curiosity with potential
Prime Video appeared on the Polish streaming services market right after Netflix – in December 2016. Prime Video, offered by Amazon as part of its Prime subscription service with unlimited shopping deliveries from the platform, has around 2.68 million real users in Poland (9.02% reach).
Amazon Prime does not stand out from the competition so far, and Poles treat the platform as a curiosity. Most likely, the popularity of the website will increase with the translations of subsequent titles, but so far domestic viewers prefer larger VOD libraries.
Despite having fewer monthly premieres compared to Netflix, Amazon’s service effectively attracts viewers with its titles and original productions. Currently, in terms of popularity in Poland, it ranks outside the top ten.
Check out the official Amazon Prime Video website
Apple TV + – so far not crazy
The Apple TV+ platform entered the Polish market at the beginning of November 2019. It primarily offers original productions that cannot be watched anywhere else. Additionally, we have the option to purchase or rent selected movies. The library is so extensive that it’s hard to find a title that isn’t available on Apple TV+.
According to the data from the VideoTrack study by Wavemaker, Apple TV+ reaches only 2% of VOD subscribers in Poland. For Poles, this is a rare choice. They tend to treat it more as an alternative to platforms like Netflix and Disney+ – using it mainly when they want to watch a specific production.
Check out the official Apple TV+ website
Rakuten TV – Netflix Opportunity for Generation X
Probably the most niche offer from the entire list, which is just in its infancy on the Polish streaming services market, but its range covers most continents. Rakuten TV debuted in the country at the beginning of 2019. So far, the distributor has not provided specific data on the number of users.
Poles like the Rakuten TV model, because the website has already introduced options for Polish subtitles, voice-over and dubbing. The platform does not work on the basis of subscription and free access to the entire library, and “borrowing” a specific title for 24 hours. However, this does not bother users who are tired of the Netflix and HBO offer and the periodic deletion of production due to larger VODs. At Rakuten TV, Poles can find, among others, all Marvel films, a large number of titles from the DC universe, and domestic cinematic images.
Despite the most likely coverage comparable to Apple TV +, Rakuten TV has a chance to gain a larger group of regular viewers due to the unique offer and the billing model to which mainly older audiences have become accustomed. The idea of home theatre is a niche that the platform will most likely develop efficiently along with a larger advertising campaign, but the site’s potential may make Rakuten TV “Netflix for Generation X”.
Check out the official Rakuten TV website
European TV streaming in Poland
Streaming services in Poland, however, are not limited only to national and global players, and European platforms also develop their niches. These are mainly sites included in the TV packages and are an interesting variety for linear media. They are mainly used by users over 35, although there are also younger viewers, tempted by new products that other VOD services do not have in their packages.
Canal+ Online – a classic in a new edition
Canal+ VOD is the best at managing its programming niche. The platform is part of the traditional Canal + (and NC +) package, which enjoyed the greatest popularity on the Polish market in the 2000s, but is still visited by a large number of older viewers. According to Wirtualnemedia.pl in March 2024, Canal+ Online recorded 2.31 million visitors, reaching 7.8% of the audience, with an average usage time of 1 hour and 50 minutes.
Within the Canal+ Online services, two types of packages can be purchased. The first one is the standard package, which includes sports broadcasts as well as movies, series, and on-demand programs. The “series & movies” package does not offer access to sports broadcasts. In addition to the standard packages, Poles can also access additional content such as Netflix, HBO Max, Eleven Sports, Polsat Sport, or Fun & News.
In addition, users can stream live TV, which primarily encourages people with a sentiment towards linear services. The platform itself is relatively fresh, but it is already attracting slightly more conservative viewers to its streaming services. Thus, Canal+ Online reserved so far for Generations X and Y seems to meet the expectations of the Generation Z.
Check out the official Canal+ Online website
SkyShowtime – the hot debut of 2024
SkyShowtime is a new service that debuted in Poland in February 2024, but it’s already gaining popularity among Polish VOD enthusiasts. In March – just a month after its launch – the platform recorded as many as 2.37 million users (8% reach). It can be expected that it will soon appear in the top 5 most popular platforms, attracting audiences of all ages.
Its library includes movies and series from producers such as Universal, DreamWorks, Sky Studios, Peacock, Nickelodeon, Showtime, Paramount, and Paramount+.
On SkyShowtime, users can create up to five profiles, and at the same time, three users can watch content on three different devices. This is a big plus for Poles who like to share their accounts. Netflix’s crackdown on account sharing has caused users to leave the platform. A downside of the service is the lack of the ability to watch content in higher quality than Full HD, which competitors like Max or Disney+ offer.
Check out the official SkyShowtime website
Viaplay – runs until mid-2025
The Viaplay has been available on the Polish market since 2021. The main offering of the VOD service is live sports, but Polish fans of series and movies will also find productions for themselves there. In addition to the standard monthly subscription, Viaplay is also available in selected cable networks – including UPC and Vectra in the form of additional packages, as well as with the mobile phone network operator Play.
The service is popular in Scandinavia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, but in Poland, the market share was so low that the platform announced its withdrawal from the country by mid-2025.
Check out the official Viaplay website
onlinecinema.eu – an alternative for giants
Quite a promising formula is onlinecinema.eu – a website that serves services combining the offers of most of the existing platforms. How? The site does not work like a typical streaming website, but is rather a base for searching competitions’ productions. The onlinecinema.eu library includes titles from Netflix, HBO GO, Player, CDA, CHILI Cinema, and Rakuten TV.
We don’t know much about the platform itself, but it undeniably has a lot of potential, especially among people who are tired of connecting subscriptions so far, in order to watch the title that has been previously downloaded from a given website.
Certainly, the big disadvantage is the unclear philosophy of functioning (in theory, the productions are streamed on onlinecinema.eu from legal sources, and the access itself is free), but when registering, you need to complete a survey from external websites or register for coupons to one of the discounters. This is based on generating traffic on other affiliate marketing websites, but such a scheme effectively scares off a large part of potential users from the very beginning.
Check out the official onlinecinema.eu website
Polish streaming platforms
Regardless of the scale of reach of global players, as well as much larger budgets of companies with foreign capital, domestic websites are opening up the top popularity rankings. It is true that some operate within large media concerns, supported by, inter alia, The Discovery Group, however, the fact is that Poles focus on native content. The great advantage of this type of platform is its very clearly embedded in the local reality, as well as conducting such communication that responds to the most desirable patterns of viewers themselves, i.e. clear references to Polish pop culture, cooperation with local artists and promotion in traditional media (also linear television).
Player – Polish leader
The Player platform (formerly TVN Player and Player +) has been operating within the Discovery Group since August 26, 2011, but is a project entirely developed by the Polish team, which combined the linear television model with VOD.
In March 2024 Player attracted 3.25 million users (10.95% reach), each averaging 2 hours and 50 minutes. This puts it in second place among streaming platforms in Poland in terms of popularity, even surpassing Disney+ and Max. In 2021, according to Mediaplan reports, the platform even overtook Netflix and took 1st place in the national ranking.
The success of Player coincided with the decision of TVN, which gave up free content on the site (previously, some titles could be watched free of charge, provided that you watched the advertising cycle). The offer includes live VOD (TVN24, TVN Meteo, TVN24 BiS, Mango 24) and content from external broadcasters, such as FilmBox Live (Kino TV, FilmBox Premium HD, DocuBox HD, FashionBox HD, FightBox, Kino Polska, Kino Polska Muzyka) and AXN Now (AXN, AXN Black, AXN White, AXN Spin).
Importantly, the platform also clearly promotes its own productions (the so-called Player Originals), the most popular of which are: “Chyłka”, “Szadź”, “Absent” or the movie “25 years of innocence. The case of Tomek Komenda”. A huge advantage of Player is an extensive content library (premium content, extended versions of TV productions and live VOD), as well as cross-promotions with other media (including one of the most widely read newspapers – “Gazeta Wyborcza”).
Check out the official Player website
TVP VOD – state media enter the internet
The TVP VOD service, which has been operating since 2010, is a direct extension of the official website of Telewizja Polska. Initially, it functioned as a subpage of tvp.pl and distributed only public media programmes, but over time it became a separate platform with the possibility of streaming live programmes and providing VOD services. In March 2024, the platform attracted 2.46 million users (8.29% market share)
A significant advantage of TVP VOD over other streaming services in Poland is the distribution of not only domestic titles, but also accredited BBC productions. In addition, as an add-on to paid content, users can watch many productions completely free of charge.
In addition to the option of renting selected productions for 24 hours, there is also a subscription system. People who regularly pay the tax on RTV equipment can use the platform completely free of charge (in practice, few Poles report to the offices for the purchase of e.g. a TV set).
Check out the official TVP VOD website
Polsat Box Go – films, TV shows and television
Polsat Box Go is a service owned by Cyfrowy Polsat, launched in Poland in August 2021. It was created by merging the previous services called ipla and Cyfrowy Polsat GO. It operates exclusively on a paid basis – the so-called SVOD model. In March 2024, it had 1.92 million users (6.48% reach), with an average usage time of 2 hours and 27 minutes.
The platform offers various packages – Start, Plus, Sport, Ukraine, and Premium. Polsat Box Go Premium package offers early access to selected series from Polsat and TV4, over 120 online TV channels, and a wide variety of Polish and international movies and series. As part of the subscription, you can also purchase the Premium Package with Disney+, which provides instant access to the second platform.
In addition to Polsat Box Go, there is also Polsat Go – a service and app where we can find free content, mainly from Polsat television. Access to content is free but with advertisements.
Check out the official Polsat Box GO website
CDA.pl – plenty of free content
The CDA.pl platform (also: CDA Premium) is a completely Polish streaming service, which initially broadcast free of charge (provided that you watch the ads in full), but over time has developed a paid model – functioning until today. For a long time, the website was ranked second in the national ranking (now it’s in the 9th place). According to Wirtuanemedia.pl, in March 2024, CDA had 1.41 million users. Last year, the platform boasted of having 500 thousand subscriptions to the Premium access.
A major advantage of CDA is that many movies and series available there are completely free (with unskippable ads at the beginning and end of each video). The platform also offers many productions that can’t be found anywhere else, such as older, less popular, or foreign films. However, these are often available in poor quality and without the option to choose a voice-over or subtitles.
Another significant advantage of the website is the variety of productions, as well as the simplicity of use, which has won the platform a large audience among older users. CDA.pl is a website to which a large part of Polish Internet users feel a certain very clear sentiment.
Check out the official CDA website
WP Pilot – ambitions greater than VOD
The history of WP Pilot began with the launch of the Netvi platform (2013), and then the transformation of the website into Videostar (2014), to function as a product of the oldest website in the country – Wirtualna Polska, 3 years later.
As part of WP Pilot, users have access to over 150 live TV channels, as well as the original content of Wirtualna Polska. It is the offer combining classic VOD with live streaming that places the platform in the middle of the nationwide ranking, and the creators themselves have the ambition not only to beat the competition, but also to enter the segment of full subscription distributors.
A considerable advantage is the availability throughout the European Union and the access to over 150 nationwide channels. At the moment, the website is very dynamically developed, which encourages both local brands and foreign concerns to cooperate.
Check out the official WP Pilot website
Summary
The streaming services market in Poland has already taken root in the minds of domestic viewers. VOD platforms are an excellent starting point for localisation activities, product placement in original titles, as well as the purchase of advertising space. Remember that your campaign must respond to the very specific needs of Polish customers, but the basis of the strategy should be solid knowledge of the local market.
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