Peacock, Amazon Prime Video Lead Way in Grabbing Premium Streaming Subs in Q3

Peacock and Amazon Prime Video were No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in acquiring new subscribers amongst streamers in Q3, according to Kantar, the research company.

Here are the specifics: From July to September, Peacock earned 17.2% of new premium streaming subscribers, while Amazon Prime Video grabbed 16%, of those in the 20,000 member consumer panel. HBO Max, which kicked off just before Peacock this year, recorded a 11.3% share.

One of the big drivers for Peacock is NBC Sports’ deal with the English Premier League matches. The soccer games are on the streamer’s Premium tier, which costs $4.99 a month. The fan base is large and loyal and the pay wall is paying off for the streamer.

Kantar also found a new streaming trend: Users who add one service were cancelling another. The researcher calls this “subscription switching.” It estimates 10% of new subs fall into this category, a slight uptick from 8% in Q2.

All Q3 gains are motivated by popular content. Peacock subscribers singled out two shows in particular: “Psych” and “Yellowstone.” Another draw for NBCU’s streamer is its free tier. Peacock runs a few minutes of commercials, then a show ad-free.

One of the plusses for Amazon Prime, which drove 23% of new subs in Q2, was “The Boys.”
Rival HBO Max also saw an uptick — from 9.7% in Q2 to 11.3% in Q3. In addition, Kantar found Hulu's service at 9.5%; Disney+ at 9.1%; Netflix at 8.3% and Apple TV+ bringing up the rear at 4.9%. (A plus for Hulu is it can be bundled with Disney+ and ESPN+.)

The big Q3 titles for Netflix were “Lucifer,” “Ozark” and “The Umbrella Academy.”