Australians spent more than $8 billion on streaming and gaming last year as prolonged COVID-19 restrictions across states such as NSW and Victoria led people to splurge on entertainment at home.

New data released today in PwC’s 2022 Australian Media and Entertainment Outlook says households averaged about 2.6 television streaming services in 2021 and spent about $40 per month to ensure they had access to programs such as Succession, Bridgerton and Yellowstone. More than 75 per cent of households paid for at least one streaming service last year, a figure which is expected to increase to 80 per cent by the end of this year.

PwC Australia Director and Australian Entertainment and Media Outlook Editor Dan Robins said people used the sector to alleviate boredom. “As in-person events return, this spending is likely to extend alongside habits around subscriptions, gaming and access to content likely to stick,” he said.

“It was broadly believed consumers were stockpiling savings and consumer spending may have been down, given that in-person events are still only steadily returning and crowds returning through late 2021 and into 2022, this is certainly not the case.”

Australians spent a total of $4.4 billion on subscription streaming services last year, compared to $1.1 billion on news media, $1.2 billion on music and $353 million on magazines.

Majority of people, according to Roy Morgan research cited by PwC, were watching Netflix. Foxtel and its streaming services Binge and Kayo Sports are the second most watched (reaching about 7.1 million citizens). Services such as Amazon Prime, Stan and Disney+ are typically watched by over 4 million Australians a month. Nine Entertainment Co owns Stan and The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

Australians spent $3.6 billion on video games. Most of the money spent on the media and entertainment sector was on internet access – $31.6 billion – which became crucial for people as they worked from home. The growth in spend contributed to a $510 annual increase in the amount of money the typical household spent on entertainment and media ($4500, up 12 per cent on pre-pandemic times). This brought total consumer spending on media and entertainment in 2021 to $45.6 billion.

Subscription and advertising-supported platforms broke ratings records in the last two years with people spending more time at home. Australian media companies are lobbying the federal government to introduce regulation that will make it easier for the public to find local streaming apps on smart televisions. The television broadcasters believe this will be key to driving growth for the sector in the future.