Big Subscription Streaming Services Offering 5% More Content
Many have declared the steaming wars to be over. In the subscription segment in particular, Netflix clearly wears the crown
But it seems like no one has told the big streamers, including Netflix, to stop buying ammunition. They are continuing to add programming to their platforms, especially sports programming.
This is a bit of a surprise to those of us who remember when the streamers decided to shift their strategies from adding subscribers by spending big on programming to focus on operating profitably.
Most streamers pulled programming from their menus, taking big write offs on underperforming assets, and canceling projects in various stages of development and production.
It worked. All around the business red ink was reduced and most direct to consumer video businesses turned profitable between cost cutting and price hikes
Now, looking at some of the “leading” subscription streaming (SVOD) services, Gracenote, Nielsen’s content data unit, says that the number of TV, movie and sports titles grew by 5% to about 45,000 in May, compared to February.
The number of titles on Netflix rose by 18.2%, which will likely continue its dominance. The other services showed much smaller increases.
Sports was the type of programming that increased most, expanding by 7.8%,,
In addition to Netflix, the figures from the new Gracenote Data Hub report include programming on Amazon Prime Video, the Walt Disney Co,’s Disney+ and Hulu, Paramount+ and Apple TV+. (Even though it’s got more subscribers and viewership than Apple Warner Bros. Discovery’ Max or HBO Max is not included. Gracenote said it expects to incorporate HBO Max this year.).
Also not included is YouTube, which according Nielsen has the largest share of TV usage among streamers Why isn’t YouTube included? “YouTube has several video services, but none are classified as subscription video-on-demand services for traditional television and movie content,” Gracenote says.
Paramount’s Pluto TV and Fox’s Tubi aren’t in there either. “Tubi and Pluto TV each operate two streaming offerings: free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) and ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD), both of which can be accessed without any subscription or registration,” Is Gracenote’s explanation.
Netflix significantly outpaced all of the tracked services in total catalog growth during Q2, increasing available content by 18.2%. The next biggest relative gains were posted by Apple TV+ (3.7%), Amazon Prime Video (3.2%), Disney+ (1.6%) and Paramount+ (1%). Currently, Netflix offers 20.1% of the TV shows, movies and sports programs available on major streaming services, up from 17.9% in the previous quarter.
Currently, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and Netflix are the leading sports players in Gracenote’s analysis, serving as home to 92% of available streaming sports programming.
TV programs were up 6.9% across all tracked services while movies were up 4%.
"In the big picture for SVOD, overall content volume continues to rise but the CTV apps making this content available continually shift,” said Bill Michels, Chief Product Officer at Gracenote. “Regardless of program type or any other attribute, effective content discovery helps streamers connect viewers to the entertainment they’ll enjoy most and get the most value out of each of the assets in their catalogs.”
Taking a closer look at each of the services:
At Netflix, overall content was up 18.2%, with sports content up 22.1%, TV programming up 21.9% and movie programming up 16.1%
At Amazon Prime Video, overall content was up 3.2%, with sports programming up 5%, TV programming up 4.8% and movie programming up 2.7%
For Disney+ (including Hulu), overall programming was up 1.6%, sports programming was up 4.1%, TV programming was up 1.4$ and movie programming rose 1.3%.
At Paramount+, overall content was up 1%, with movie programming up 2.2%, TV programming up 0.4%, TV programming up 0.4% and sports programming down 8%.
For Apple TV+, overall content was up 3.7%, sports programming was up 25%, TV programming was up 4.5% and movie programming was down 2.4%.
# # #
Speaking of sports, DirecTV said it is adding to its lineup, particularly for its business clients.
Working with Amazon Prime Video, DirecTV is making Prime’s five-race NASCAR schedule available in more than 300,000 sports bars, restaurants, stadium boxes, casinos and other venues. DirecTV for Business says it’s the only commercial provider offering all NASCAR races, including those on Fox Sports, Turner Sports and NBC Sports.
DirecTV said it is also offering Sunday MSL matches to residential and business customers this season, which marks the league’s 30th anniversary.
The Sunday night games are presented by Continental Tire.
DirecTV already makes the MSL Season Pass product available to its residential streaming and satellite customers, as well as its business customers.
DirecTV began sponsoring MLS’s most recent expansion franchise, San Diego FC, this season