Viewership for Streaming Originals Is Down Nearly 20% in 2023, but Is That Really Surprising?
The Streaming Wars have left every service battered and bruised in some way or another. Now something of a détente has settled over the industry, as streamers are all facing the same problem: how to make their services profitable in a highly saturated market.
That has led to a slow start in 2023 for streaming originals. A Nielsen report from early March showed that ratings for the most popular streaming originals were down to start the year. That trend has continued, according to Variety's reporting of data from Nielsen. The numbers show that viewership of the most-watched streaming originals is down 19% year-over-year.
That figure does not include “The Last of Us” on HBO Max, which is not technically a streaming original since it also airs simultaneously on linear HBO. But even with that series added into the data, streaming originals are seeing smaller audiences to the tune of 11% under the numbers from a year ago.
Nielsen’s data shows that the show which compiled the most minutes streamed in February was “New Amsterdam” on Peacock. That show is not a streaming original, but rather a medical drama that recently concluded its run on NBC.
But the fact that streamers are not churning out multitudes of big-budget prestige shows right now is hardly surprising. Each of the biggest media outlets (with the exception of Netflix) are dealing with streaming losses in the millions of dollars, currently. Warner Bros. Discovery suffered a streaming deficit of $217 million in the fourth quarter, which is a marked improvement over where the company was at this time last year. Paramount’s streaming arm lost nearly $600 million, and Disney+ and Peacock both recorded streaming losses of over $1 billion in that timeframe.
In short, streamers are taking this time to assess their strategy and plan for the future. Each platform is taking its own path to profitability, but less content spending across the board seems highly likely. A January study from Ampere showed that industry-wide content spending will grow only 2% this year, as compared to 6% in 2022.
Given that data, it shouldn’t be a shock to anyone following the streaming industry that ratings for streaming originals are down right now. The streaming market saw 26 million net additions in 2022, meaning that while the market is saturated in terms of the number of services, customers aren’t likely to leave streaming altogether in favor of another mode of entertainment. That gives streamers a little time to pause and plan their next steps, which will mean for some that it will be a while longer before they start releasing a superfluity of prestige original shows.
When you factor in that every studio is trying to plan for a potential upcoming wristers' strike, it’s not a huge surprise that streamers are being a bit more judicious with what they launch and when. However, as the Emmy season picks up in the coming weeks, keep an eye out for any of the prestige shows get streaming moving in the right direction again.
Peacock
Peacock is a subscription video streaming service from NBCUniversal that includes original shows, blockbuster movies, and classic television series. Peacock is home to “Yellowstone,” and “The Office,” as well as original hits like “Poker Face” and “Bel-Air.” You can also watch live sports including NFL, MLB, WWE, Olympics, Premier League, NASCAR, French Open, College Football and Basketball, and PGA Tour. Premium Plus subscribers can stream their local NBC feed in all 210 markets.