Most Streaming Apps Aren't Growing - One Winner Surprised Me

I've been watching Disney+ and Hulu since the announcement that they're no longer taking new subscribers through the App Store. As expected, the pair's rankings in the top grossing list, where the two used to be in the top 10 for pretty much ever, have been slipping.

That led me to analyze the top streamers and see who's gaining market share and who's losing it. The results surprised me a bit.

I analyzed Disney+, Hulu, Peacock, Paramount+, and Amazon Prime Video, and Max. The six have been the top earners for quite some time.

Instead of just looking at new revenue I compared new revenue across all six to see who has the biggest share and also how that share compares to where it was last year.

I've been following the streaming industry for several years now and fully expected growth to decline a bit from where it was last year, but I didn't expect it to go into the negative for most of these big names.

The analysis, which used net revenue from our App Intelligence, shows the share of revenue of four of the six apps declined below where it was in January of 2023. The quartet includes Max, Paramount, Hulu, and DIsney+. The decline ranged from 1.1% for Max to a whopping 2.3% for Disney+.

No wonder Disney doesn't want to compete in the App Store - it just couldn't figure it out.

Where did the share go? Right to Peacock and Amazon Prime Video. Yes, Amazon Prime Video, which was fairly unknown to most for a looong time. That's changed!

Our estimates show Peacock's share of revenue rose a healthy 2.7% as of October and Amazon's an even healthier 4.3%. And unsurprisingly, both recorded all-time high revenue in October. Peacock ended the month with $50M of net revenue and Amazon with $12M.

A very different scale from that of Disney+ and Max, but with the big ones fumbling growth and the smaller ones aggressively seeking it, the scales will tip at some point soon.

I just hope to see more original content coming to streaming like the early days that sparked it all. My must watch list has been pretty empty lately.

Want a deeper dive into the streaming app business? Check out our 30 page industry report detailing downloads and revenue in the streaming industry, the leaders (and losers), categories that are flourishing, and more.