Radiography of the digital platforms of Video on Demand (VoD) in Spain

Spanish users have access to a total of 338 VoD platforms, of which 158 offer cinema with a total catalog of 80,000 unique titles.

There are many digital Video On Demand (VOD) platforms available in the Spanish market, but the vast majority remain unknown to the general public. This conclusion emerges from this report. Digital Film and Series Platforms in Spain 2016, developed by Findanygame, based on the data included in its database.

Currently, there are 338 digital platforms and services that offer audiovisual content on demand in the Spanish market (digital platforms, online video clubs, on-demand film and series services, film and series channels, online film libraries and similar), whose contents are, in whole or in part, accessible in the Spanish state. The Spanish platforms 400 Films, Tucut, Cine y Fe or AniJapan have fallen by the wayside in recent times, with others emerging such as Vodity or the imminent Nyx Channel, which are joining, following in the wake of Netflix, HBO Spain or the upcoming Amazon Prime Video. Mention that among the Spanish digital platforms, only the following are approved by the ICAA (Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts, of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports) for counting viewers: CineClick, Nubeox, Benecé Online, Filmotech, Wuaki and Filmin, in addition to Mitele, Vodafone (by Ono) and Telefónica (Movistar).

Contents

More than 80,000 unique titles are available for the Spanish market in terms of films, of all types of genres and aimed at all types of audiences, from new releases to the back of the catalogue, from blockbusters to independent films, offered by the 158 platforms and services that offer cinema among their content. And there are 111 platforms that offer series (more than 7,000 different ones), also the most varied, from children's cartoons, anime, soap operas, the most recent series, webseries,...

As a genre within cinema (and outside of fiction), it is common to find documentaries in the company of films of all genres, but they are also the protagonists of several platforms (there are a total of 162 that give access to them). However, documentaries (in the company of reports and private recordings) are the great star of film libraries, which offer them, associated with television, as is the case of Filmoteca Española with RTVE, or through such popular services as YouTube or Vimeo, as most national film libraries do. And we must not forget the foreign ones (also university or sectoral) that allow us to learn about Italian propaganda cinema, the activities of the French Communist Party, secrets of Hollywood and American television or the colonial activities of the former British Empire.

Along with movies and series, you can find other content, the most varied (offered by 114 platforms): There are platforms that offer musical content (concerts, music videos), sports and other types of content (such as plays, eSports championships, television programs or television content from different channels). Without forgetting the entertainment platforms that especially seek to conquer young audiences, such as Flooxer or Mtmad. There are also those that offer Catch up TV, on-demand television, such as AtresPlayer, Mitele, Movistar+ or Total Channel, or those dependent on telecommunications companies.

Extra content

Except for contributions in very specific cases of articles or reviews, digital platforms include basic data such as the technical sheet, the artistic sheet or the synopsis, and sometimes the trailer, without generally providing the extras that do exist accompanying part of the titles in physical format on DVD and Blu-ray. On the contrary, on digital video game platforms it is not unusual for extras to be offered along with the game, and thus, one of those that already offer (also in download) movies and (geek) documentaries, GOG, does so regularly in the company of extras such as trailers, posters or featurettes.

Image resolution

Digital platforms offer standard definition (SD) images in almost all cases, with some exceptions, such as 3doo, which only offers them in high definition (HD). However, it is increasingly common to access content also in HD, although sometimes the image does not reach the Full HD resolution of 1080p and remains at 720p. And so, of the 338 existing platforms, 191 of them already offer their content in HD quality, although sometimes, and in cases where the service is paid, they are more expensive than when they are served in SD.

Accessible content

Little by little, initiatives are coming to light that allow people with visual or hearing disabilities to access audiovisual content in fields such as movie theaters, television or video in physical format. However, in Video On Demand, accessibility to audiovisual content is not as important as it should be, despite the fact that the possibility of viewing titles with subtitles, for example, is increasing. Today there is no digital platform that offers all its titles completely accessible, as Accessible Cinema did at the time, and on a small scale, something that the Administration, the Video On Demand platforms and such necessary entities as the CESYA (Spanish Center for Subtitling and Audio Description) should work together on.

Devices

The vast majority of platforms are accessible via the web through an Internet browser, on computers, but there are increasingly more access alternatives from other means such as smartphones (already converted into the largest access point to the network), tablets, Smart TV or video game consoles, for example.

It is increasingly common to find digital platforms that give access to their content to mobile systems such as smartphones and tablets, through responsive websites that adapt to the device's screen or through specific apps for said systems: While 24 offer specific apps for Windows Phone, 8 for BlackBerry, the majority do so for iOS, 128, and for Android, 129.

As in the field of smartphones and tablets in connected televisions, in Smart TVs there is no single standard for them, so according to the brands, with some exceptions, it is necessary to create a specific app for each of them. In any case, a total of 58 platforms already offer their content directly for Smart TVs.

20 platforms offer access with apps through the Xbox 360 video game platforms, 15 through Xbox One, 12 through PS3, 10 through PS4, 19 through the Chromecast device, while 22 have apps for the Windows 8 operating system and for Windows 10, and 11 for Apple TV.

To these we must add access to audiovisual content (cinema, series, TV) through the Set-Top Box decoders of telecommunications companies such as Movistar, Orange, Vodafone or Euskaltel.