Streaming Wars: Which Service Came Out On Top In 2020?
By Zoe Kramer
Almost a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, streaming services continue to benefit from being one of the main forms of entertainment for all of us stuck at home. In fact, with movie theatres, live performances and many sports franchises on hold, streaming services are one of the only forms of entertainment. But which of the streaming giants has made the most of this opportunity?
During the first week of March 2020, Americans spent an average of 275 minutes (4.5 hours) a day watching television. By the end of the month, that number had risen to 354 minutes (nearly 6 hours).
During this first period of the pandemic where people were streaming TV shows and films at unprecedented rates, the decision to choose one streaming service over another can rely not only on the programming that service has on offer, but the time frame in which new content is released. Netflix’s Tiger King came out during this critical juncture, and did not disappoint. Receiving a total of 34.3 million unique views within its first ten days of being released, the larger-than-life docuseries put Netflix on the path to becoming a frontrunner.
Disney+, a newcomer at the time, also performed staggeringly well during the beginning of the pandemic. Hosting a catalogue of already beloved childhood favourites, as well as popular franchises such as Star Wars and Marvel, Disney+ gained an estimated 50 million subscribers within its first six months.
It has outshone the competition in one crucial field: hosting must-see films. Seven of the top ten most watched films of 2020 were hosted on Disney+. Its release of Hamilton drew in more subscribers than any other title on the platform. However, this strategy has one fatal flaw: if the appeal of the platform is a few uber-popular films, subscribers tend to watch them and then cancel their subscriptions. People who sign up to watch Hamilton might not care much for Star Wars or the latest Marvel blockbuster. In fact, about a quarter of the subscribers Disney+ gained upon the release of Hamilton cancelled their subscriptions within a month.
Amazon Prime’s strategy is the polar opposite. Instead of investing in a few smash hits, Amazon seems to focus on quantity — and I do mean quantity. Prime has a staggering 65,504 titles compared to Netflix’s 7,177, almost 10 times as many. However this extensive library inevitably leads to a sacrifice in quality, especially given that two thirds of it is user uploaded.
Amazon Prime had a mediocre start to the pandemic, with the questionable decision to offer a catalogue of kids’ TV and movies for free, but only for a month. Users were not required to have a Prime account, so this move didn’t do much for subscriber counts. Still, Prime has big appeal in the sports world, broadcasting live football and rugby. As a result, it held decent numbers, reaching 118 million subscribers in April, and reversing previous downward trends in the number of members who kept their subscription after their free trial.
Of course, no one does free trials quite like Apple TV+; if you have an Apple device you can get an entire year for free. Erring on the side of slightly too generous, Apple has struggled to compete, being overshadowed by Disney+, which launched around the same time. Still, despite comparatively lacking in paid subscribers, Apple still has no shortage of funding, dropping a reported $6 billion on original programming.
Similarly, Disney-owned streamer Hulu failed to dominate the market, but still made a gain of 6.2 million subscribers from the first to the fourth quarter in 2020.
The summer marked a turning point in the market. After the initial gains during the first leg of the pandemic, by the third quarter it seemed we had already decided which streaming service to select — and as a result, the number of new subscribers began to slow.
In fact, Netflix added fewer subscribers in the third quarter than it had in the last four years.
Disney also struggled during the summer, with the controversial release of its live action rendition of Mulan. There were calls to boycott the movie for giving thanks to several Chinese government entities associated with running detention camps. Mulan also served as an experiment for a new model where in addition to the regular subscription fee, Disney+ members were required to pay an additional $30 to see the new release. Possibly due to these factors as well as the closure of its signature theme parks, Disney lost $710 million in the fourth quarter.
Others endured this apparent lull, however. Newcomer HBO Max released the wildly successful Wonder Woman 1984 at the end of the year, which grossed over $100 million and cemented the platform as a true contender.
And let’s not forget, closer to home, BBC iPlayer saw a record breaking year with 5.3 billion requests to stream content on the service from January to November in 2020. That was 33 per cent ahead of the same period last year, and 850 million requests higher than the whole of 2019. Normal People was by far the most popular content on the service, with 62 million requests to stream it.
So what does the future hold for the streaming giants and their relentless race to hoover up subscribers?
The answer may be to go global. Thanks to Fire TV in India, Amazon doubled its consumption of streaming content. Netflix, back from a strong fourth quarter, has surpassed 200 million subscribers, 85% of which are outside of the US. Relinquishing its debt raising habits, it also recently added 2 million new subscribers in Asia and isn’t likely to stop there.
It will be interesting to see if/how US-exclusive services like HBO Max broaden their horizons. But one thing’s for sure — as long as people are stuck inside, television is going to be an easy sell.