There are over 100 subscription and free streaming services. With so many, finding the right ones for you can be a bit confusing. In fact, it is often one of the most popular questions we see on social media and via email.
We asked over 2,000 of our readers what services they use and, for the first time, Amazon was more popular than Netflix. The other surprise is almost every streaming service on our list saw their market share drop compared to just a year ago.
The following are the top 10 most popular services according to our readers:
- Amazon: 73.2%
- Netflix: 72.2%
- YouTube: 46.1%
- Hulu: 41.2%
- CBS All Access: 15.3%
- Google Play: 10.8%
- HBO Now: 9.1%
- iTunes: 8.2%
- Showtime Anytime: 8%
- Torrents/Unlicensed Streaming: 4.8%
When compared to 2017, there has been a strong drop in market share for both Netflix and Amazon. Netflix dropped from 77.3% to 72.2% and Amazon dropped from 75.2% to 73.2%. Even YouTube TV, Hulu, and Google Play saw drops. Only CBS All Access saw a jump up to 15.3% from 14.3% in 2017.
What may be surprising is that Google Play is more popular than iTunes, but maybe that shouldn’t be a surprise. Android has an 86.2% market share compared to iOS at just 12.9%. Google Play is also available on Android TV, Chromecast, and Roku streaming players. This means Google Play is available on over half of all US streaming players.
So why is Amazon jumping ahead of Netflix? There is no clear answer. It is possible the addition of some live events like Thursday Night NFL football games have helped Amazon gain market share. It is also possible that as cord cutters cut back on streaming services the additional features of the Prime membership like free shipping helped convince people to continue to pay for Amazon but drop Netflix.
What we can see here is that as more streaming services launch they are starting to cut into Netflix and Amazon’s market share. The question now is in a year how many of these smaller services will still be around and how will that impact the big five streaming services.
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