Survey: Netflix Remains Best Streaming Library, Competitors Closing Gap

A new survey from research platform CivicScience confirmed what many streaming customers have thought for years: Netflix has the most popular library amongst American adults. In the study published last month, 38% of respondents indicated that they believed that Netflix has the best streaming library, while 11% sided with Amazon Prime Video, followed by Hulu (9%), HBO Max (8%), and YouTube Premium (4%).

While the gulf between Netflix and Prime Video is substantial, it is actually down a sizable amount from the end of 2019 in which 45% of consumers viewed Netflix’s catalog as the best amongst streamers. With the rise of Disney+, HBOMax, Paramount+, and other services in the subsequent two years, the fragmentation of audience preferences is to be expected.

The survey also indicates that with the expansion of streaming services over the past two years, the amount of people turning to Netflix on a weekly basis has declined substantially. In Q2 of 2020, in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic and at the height of lockdown procedures, 2/3 of CivicScience respondents indicated that they were streaming Netflix content weekly.

That number has steadily declined in the subsequent two years, bottoming out in Q3 of 2021 at 52% before bouncing up to 54% in the most recent study.

While part of that decline can be directly attributed to the easing of stay-at-home orders and people being more comfortable with venturing out of their homes for the first time in months or years, the number is still dramatically lower than the pre-pandemic totals which were in the low to mid-60% range in the two quarters before the pandemic.

As the preeminent force in global streaming, Netflix has found itself in the position of addressing whether or not they are able to continue adding new subscribers – especially in the United States – at a rate to keep up with their content budget. Some analysts have recently indicated that the streamer should consider adding a lower priced and/or free ad-driven tier in hopes of bringing in a new crop of currently hesitant subscribers.

In the CivicScience survey, 31% of the people polled indicated that while they were already Netflix subscribers, they would keep their ad-free option should the platform offer a cheaper or free tier. However, 17% of current subscribers indicated that they would likely downgrade to a free or lower-cost option if it was available.

CivicScience says that 43% of those surveyed do not currently use Netflix and only 15% would sign up if the streamer offered a more cost-conscious tier, while 28% would remain unsubscribed. Of course, if you do the math, that leaves 9% of respondents who currently use Netflix, but do not pay for it, and therefore would just have to go along with whatever their parents, roommate, or ex decided to do with their subscription.