Jan 6, 2021

Analysis: U.S. Streaming Subscriber Growth of More Than 50% in 2020, Benefiting All Major Services

This time last year, with Disney+ and Apple TV+ newly launched and HBO Max and Peacock about to launch their services, all the talk was about an impending streaming war. Instead, 2020 was a big win for streaming.

The benefits of streaming services being locked down are well known, but a new Wall Street Journal analysis shows the startling fact that instead of fighting for subscribers, all major streaming services are growing amid the pandemic The numbers show.

According to the paper's analysis of data from market research firms MoffettNathanson LLC and HarrisX, the largest streaming services in the U.S. are expected to end 2020 with total subscriber growth of more than 50% year-over-year. fourth quarter 2019 Between Q4 and Q4 2020, the number of subscribers grew from 170.3 million to an estimated 256.7 million.

"Instead of streaming wars, we are seeing streaming coexistence and parallel growth," said Dritan Nesho, CEO of HarrisX. The big exception is Quibi, a service launched by DreamWorks Animation founder Jeffrey Katzenberg that collapsed within a year. [The Wall Street Journal] noted that some of the major streaming distributors subscribed after a free trial and may not renew. With the spread of vaccines expected to alleviate the pandemic, there are questions about how long this streaming boom will last. Market leader Netflix failed to meet some of its goals as subscriber growth slowed in the third quarter of last year.

The U.S. streaming market is not yet saturated, according to the Wall Street Journal's own research. A November 2019 survey conducted by the paper with Harris Poll found that Americans are willing to spend an average of $44 per month on streaming video and subscribe to an average of 3.6 services.

According to Kagan (a media research group within S&P Global Market Intelligence), as it stands, U.S. households subscribe to an average of 3.1 services. This is below 3.6, but close. Feeling déjà vu, we ask again: is the streaming war about to begin, Netflix's "Gospel at Midnight"