Netflix continues to dominate the TV show streaming industry, grabbing 89 percent of the market during Q1 2013. At the same time though, it lost 4 percentage points year over year as competitors Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime gained 3 percentage points and 1 percentage points, respectively.
The latest data, which comes from marketing firm NPD, shows the number of viewers watching television shows via subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services increased 34 percent, compared to the same quarter a year ago. Here is the breakdown for the TV category, which accounts for 80 percent of streams:
As you can see, there is a minor overlap when it comes to TV shows, with Hulu Plus taking 10 percent of TV streams in Q1 and Amazon Prime accounting for 2 percent of overall TV units streamed. Netflix is still the clear winner, however, as it took a 90 percent share of video-streaming units, which includes both TV shows and movies.
Users interested in paying for video streaming are increasingly trying multiple services. 76 percent of SVOD subscribers streamed only from Netflix in Q1 2012, but that figure fell to 67 percent in Q1 2013. Last quarter, 10 percent of SVOD streamers used both Netflix and Amazon Prime, and 8 percent used both Netflix and Hulu.
“There’s no doubt that Netflix is driving the growth in SVOD, particularly with increased attention to television programming,” Russ Crupnick, senior vice president of industry analysis at NPD, said in a statement. “While Hulu Plus and Amazon both still have a long way to go before they come close to catching Netflix, we are beginning to see increasing trial of these services, even among some Netflix users.”
In other words, the Netflix monopoly is starting to erode. Given the news coming out of both Amazon and Hulu recently, competition is about to get even more fierce.
See also – Amazon signs new licensing deal with Viacom to expand exclusive TV content on Prime Instant Video and Private equity firms KKR and Silver Lake have reportedly made separate bids to purchase Hulu
Top Image Credit: Peter Szustka
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