Customers are having a difficult time telling streamers apart
Customers are having a difficult time telling streamers apart
Differentiation between top streamers is becoming harder and harder. Will consolidation help, or simply make things worse?
Which streaming service is which? Which platform has what content? For analysts, just keeping track of all the details of a streaming service is a full-time job. For the average consumer who just wants to try and find something interesting to watch, it can be borderline impossible. To make matters worse, differentiating top streaming services is only getting harder, according to new data from Hub Research. A wave of consolidation is currently sweeping the industry, but there’s room to wonder whether that will make telling streaming services a part easier or harder.
The data from Hub indicates that viewers of most streaming services are losing their ability to tell those services apart. In 2025, for example, 84% of Netflix subscribers told Hub that they were confident they could explain what made the ubiquitous streamer different from other services. In 2026, however, that number has fallen to 81%.
The percentage of customers who were able to differentiate top streamers fell for nearly every service year over year, with the exceptions of Peacock and HBO Max. Fewer than half of Apple TV subscribers are able to explain what makes that service distinct from others. While that doesn’t necessarily mean that these customers aren’t satisfied with the service that they get from the streamers, it does raise concern that the specific value propositions that each offers are going unrecognized, making it easier for consumers to exit their subscriptions.
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Streamers have long tried to stand out from one another with the original programming that they offer. The problem is that in such a saturated marketplace, trying to tell streamers’ original titles apart has become yet another pain point. When asked by Hub, customers said that exclusive originals were a distinguishing feature for just about every platform; viewers know that streamers have original titles, but they’re becoming less and less sure which programs belong to which platform.
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Audiences are even having a hard time determining which platforms are hosting the most popular titles currently on TV. Hub’s data found that only 23% of viewers were able to correctly identify which streaming service “The Pitt” is found on, versus 45% who said they didn’t know which service had it, and 31% who named the wrong service.
The world’s largest streaming service isn’t immune to the issue either. Only 50% of those surveyed could correctly identify Netflix as the home of “Squid Game,” leaving 50% to either say they didn’t know or give the incorrect response.
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Muddying the waters even further from the consumer perspective is the fact that streamers are beginning to consolidate. Paramount streaming services are leading the way; the company has already announced the shutdown of BET+, with its library to be integrated with Paramount+. The company will also somehow combine HBO Max and Paramount+ if its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery clears regulatory hurdles.
Disney is also in on the wave of consolidation, and is fully merging Hulu onto the Disney+ app later this year. The company has also put an increasing amount of sports from ESPN onto the Disney+ app, as it tries to make the service its one-stop streaming hub.
But is combining streaming services going to make issues of differentiation better or worse? On the one hand, with fewer total streamers out there, there will be fewer options for audiences to keep track of as they try to find their chosen shows and movies. On the other hand, as new mixes of titles congregate on a single service, the qualities that once made each platform stand out are now melting away, so that they all essentially have similar content focuses. All of these moves could force audiences to grapple with a fresh wave of confusion as they sort out why certain apps no longer exists, how to bundle their favorite streamers, and whether or not a specific subscription is worth it anymore.
Consolidation in streaming is coming, but streamers can get ahead of the confusion issue now by offering new ways to stand out from the competition. If they don’t, they’ll risk making the trouble customers are having telling streamers apart even worse, and that could drive more viewers to other video platforms like YouTube.
Paramount Plus
Paramount+ is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 40,000+ TV show episodes from BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., and more. Get free access with a Walmart+ subscription.
Paramount+ includes “1883,” “Tulsa King,” “Star Trek: Discovery,” “SpongeBob SquarePants,” and “PAW Patrol.” Subscribers can watch the NFL, college football, The Masters, college basketball, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, Serie A, and NWSL. The service also offers the option to watch your live CBS affiliate. The upgraded ad-free package includes premium movies and shows from Showtime.