Sorry, cable—most of today’s most popular shows are on Netflix

[Karlston]

In the dynamic streaming biz, Netflix viewership, original shows still dominate.

 

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There are so many streaming services pushing for our dollars these days that the industry's feeling a lot like cable—except more people are streaming than they are watching cable. Streaming services debut, combine, and rebrand constantly, and the streaming wars have never been hotter. Yet, the original streaming king remains on top when it comes to eyeballs on the screen. As Bloomberg calculated via Nielsen data this week, Netflix accounts for 70–80 percent of the 10 most-watched TV shows in the US weekly.

 

On Sunday, Bloomberg shared a detailed and handily interactive breakdown of streaming data accumulated from Nielsen and third-party analyst firms Antenna and Parrot. Critically, though, the report lacks data on what shows are driving Paramount+, since "it's the only major streaming service that doesn’t participate in the Nielsen charts" and Prime Video, since Nielsen doesn’t include viewership on third-party services.

 

Having launched in March 2021, Paramount+ is relatively new, but Antenna reports it acquired more new subscribers (7.6 million) from January to March 2023 than other streaming services recorded (Prime Video isn't included). However, "about 7 percent of the people who pay for Paramount+ cancel every month," Bloomberg said. Still, the streaming service with the second most subscriber gains during this period (HBO Max) was behind 26.3 percent. Paramount+ may be an interesting service to keep track of as the battle for subscribers continues.

An ongoing binge

For better or worse, binge-watching still appears to be a big driver for Netflix, even as executives across the industry seek to move away from that model. Notably, Nielsen data Bloomberg shared on the matter is said to "favor binge viewing," since "people can watch every episode all at once, thereby increasing the viewing time in the first couple weeks. But Netflix still dominates week after week after week."

 

Regarding each service's top-performing (reaching Nielsen's weekly top 10 list) original shows, Netflix accumulates the most minutes watched. Its five shows (Manifest, Cobra Kai, Lucifer, Stranger Things, and The Crown) earned 130,000 minutes of viewership, beating, by miles, Disney+ (32,737 minutes across seven shows), Amazon (22,500 minutes, three shows), HBO Max (15,586 minutes, four shows), and Hulu (3,879 minutes, two shows).

 

Citing Nielsen data, Bloomberg said Netflix accounts for 7–8 percent of TV viewing every month. Nielsen recently said Netflix represented 7.3 percent of streaming viewership in February. If you count YouTube (7.9 percent) as a streaming service, which Nielsen does, Netflix was in second place but still fared better than others, like Hulu (3.3 percent) and Prime Video (3 percent).

 

Binge-watching has been a staple of Netflix, helping the service grow its initial popularity by creating obsessive viewers who just couldn't stop watching. But that strategy is being reconsidered nowadays. Executives, including producers, studio chiefs, agents, and lawyers, seem more interested in show episodes releasing in weekly installments if possible or in batches (with a few episodes released initially before releasing all episodes simultaneously). According to a December Bloomberg report, arguments shared for this include, “Unless it’s HBO watercooler TV, the once-a-week model feels dated. Binging is a risky proposition, since there’s much higher likelihood that people won’t stick with the show.”

 

This week, Bloomberg reported that releasing shows in installments "seems to be extending the amount of time Netflix shows spend in the top 10."

 

"The majority of Netflix hits spend two weeks or less in the top 10. But the number that disappear after one week has decreased, and the time that Netflix shows spend in the top 10 went up over the last year," Bloomberg reported.

 

Beyond bingeing, a still-sizable subscriber count is driving Netflix's leadership. The service is estimated to reach at least 100 million US viewers a month, which includes 30 million via password sharing, Bloomberg said. Last week, Netflix reported 1.75 million new subscribers between January and March, which was almost 550,000 more than analysts expected on average, AP reported. That's fewer subscribers than Paramount+ nabbed but much better than the 200,000 subscriber loss Netflix reported during that same period last year and the following quarter when Netflix lost 970,000 subscribers. Netflix's remedial efforts included cracking down on password sharing and lowering the bar for show cancellations. Soon, it will save money by shuttering its DVD mail service, which AP reported brought in $145.7 million in revenue in 2022.

For now...

Netflix's future looks brighter than it was a year ago when it reported its first-quarter losses in over 10 years. However, streaming services are in a fickle battlefield that's becoming increasingly competitive, with coveted titles being created and passed around like hotcakes.

Bloomberg noted that Netflix is losing some popular TV show reruns it used to license.

 

"Its share, which was 100 percent for most of 2021, now sits in between 50 percent and 75 percent most weeks. (Netflix has also lost some share in original series, but not as much," it said.

 

Nine shows on Bloomberg's "Streaming's longest running hits" chart, which depicts shows spending the most weeks on Nielsen's top 10 list, made it on the list via Netflix. But some shows, like The Office and Criminal Minds, are now on other services.

 

However, streaming services are said to be getting less stingy with their original programming, as evidenced by moves like HBO Max selling shows to Roku and Tubi. Disney is also reportedly considering more flexibility, following "its worst stock market results in decades," as per a February Bloomberg report, resulting in changes like a new/old CEO. Hogging content from previous partners, like Netflix, reportedly cost Disney billions in "home video sales and licensing deals with other networks.”

 

All that said, the streaming world is in a time of flux. Not only are the number of services vying for subscribers growing, shows are becoming more reliant on streaming as a distribution platform over cable and broadcast. Meanwhile, streaming services are trying to figure out how to balance providing original content, beloved classics, and partner programs in a way that doesn't cannibalize its various businesses. Netflix has decent footing, especially compared to a year ago, but there's no time for complacency.

 

 

Sorry, cable—most of today’s most popular shows are on Netflix