YouTube Premium is a top 5 SVOD in CEE, as market adopts ads and operator bundles

YouTube Premium is a top 5 SVOD in CEE, as market adopts ads and operator bundles – Señal News

YouTube Premium is a top 5 SVOD in CEE, as market adopts ads and operator bundles

YouTube’s premium tier commands a user base rivaling Disney+, while Netflix and Disney+ integrate advertising to overcome growth plates in key regional markets.

YouTube Premium has established itself as one of the top five most frequently subscribed-to video platforms in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), according to the new ViewTube CEE study by WPP Media. The extensive research, conducted across Poland, Czechia, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Serbia, and Croatia, reveals that between 8 and 18 percent of internet users in these markets pay for or share a subscription to the service.

In Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Romania, and Hungary, YouTube Premium achieves results similar to Disney+. Its performance is even more pronounced in Croatia and Serbia—countries with fewer paid streaming customers—where it ranks among the top three paid video platforms and surpasses Disney’s platform in popularity. While traditional streamers like Netflix and Disney+ leverage film and series content, YouTube’s regional strength is driven by music and music videos, the leading content category in all seven markets. This audience draws mainly parents of young children, younger viewers, and music fans, motivated primarily by ad-free viewing.

“YouTube Premium is a different category from traditional SVOD platforms, but it competes for the same valuable currencies in the video market: viewers’ time and money,”comments Izabela Albrychiewicz, WPP Market Manager CSEE & CEO WPP Media.“Although they are buying something different on YouTube than on Netflix or HBO Max, they are willing to pay, and YouTube Premium’s place among the top five demonstrates the platform’s strong position.” For advertisers, Albrychiewicz notes this means reduced reach among attractive demographic groups on the standard YouTube platform.

FRENEMY RELATIONSHIP AND AD ADOPTION
The report also highlights a growing “frenemy” dynamic between pay TV operators/telecoms and SVOD players. Cooperation is vital for operator business sustaining, and pay TV shows stability despite cord-cutting forecasts. Between 14 and 38 percent of SVOD customers purchase subscriptions through operators, and between 12 and 34 percent through telecoms. Most operators also provide internet, making TV a broader package addition.

This stability is crucial as SVOD growth plateaus in several CEE countries. In Poland, the average subscription count leveled at 2.2 per person in 2025. “Platforms are looking for additional revenuedoing,”adds Albrychiewicz. “For marketers, this means access to high-quality inventory that was previously locked firmly behind paywalls.”

Izabela AlbrychiewiczNETFLIXDisney+WPP MediaYouTube Premium