In spite of Netflix still dominating the streaming market, newcomers such as HBO Max and NBCUniversal’s Peacock are already taking a significant bite out of its dominance.
According to data from Ampere Analysis, Netflix’s share of the U.S. market has shrunk from 29% to 20%. That’s a drop of around one-third during a year when streaming content became king due to the pandemic. Netflix also added 36.58 million new subscribers globally over the course of 2020.
With Netflix all but secure with its position as the country’s top streaming service and Amazon Prime Video in a confident second place with 16% of the market, the competition for third place between Hulu, HBO Max, and Disney+ looks to be the battle to watch for 2021.
Hulu currently claims the third spot with a market share of 13%. HBO Max and Disney+ remain close behind with 12% and 11% respectively. Other services such as Apple TV+, Starz, and Paramount+ make up the remainder of the field with market shares in the single digits.
While HBO Max is poised to continue to attract viewers, thanks in large part to Warner Bros electing to debut their entire 2021 slate on the platform at the same time they release their films in theaters, Ampere Research Manager Toby Holleran expects Disney+ to fully overtake the other two competitors and secure a strong third-place showing by year’s end, domestically and worldwide.
Trending data shows that if you combine all of Disney’s streaming businesses (Hulu, ESPN+ and Disney+), that company will overtake Netflix both in the states and globally by 2024.
It would be unwise to count Netflix out just yet. They have a firm foothold internationally with a solid focus on content for specific regions. We also don’t know how many people are merely sampling these new services, whereas Netflix seems to have earned long-term commitments from many of its subscribers.
The average American household now spends $40 a month on subscription-based streaming content, an increase of 17% compared to the same research conducted at the start of 2020. By the end of this year, the average home is projected to have at least three streaming subscriptions.
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