The Covid-19 shutdowns have done a lot to hurt the economy overall but it was good for streaming companies. A new study shared by the Hollywood Reporter showed that streaming accounted for 25% of TV viewing last quarter.
Being home all day every day changed the way people approach TV in a big way with streaming-based entertainment whether on-demand or live streaming getting higher viewership then it ever has before. Fubo TV for instance noted that last quarter its subscribers managed to watch more than 8 hours a day of streaming TV. We don’t know if the streaming was background noise or a genuine taking in of content but with kids in the house it should be no surprise that Disney+ quickly rose to account for 4% of streaming usage.
If that sounds small in comparison to Netflix at 35% keep in mind that after YouTubes 20% and Hulu’s 11% Amazon, a far more established player in the streaming game only doubled Disney+. Even more, the rest of the streaming platforms that people pretend are in a “streaming war” are all lumped together as other platforms including Apple TV+, CBS All Access, and niche services. Altogether, those services made up 23 percent of time spent. It should also be pointed out that Hulu and its 11% is also a Disney product, so combined Disney makes up 15% of streaming usage.
With Peacock off to a strong start and HBO’s strategy taking shape it will be interesting to see where the numbers go in the next four months.
