Best Streaming Services: What the Streaming Wars Mean for Consumers and Advertisers

When it comes to the best streaming services, there is a seemingly endless array of choices for consumers. To further complicate things, from HBO Max to Netflix, every major player in the space has announced an ad-supported subscription tier in the last year. With so many options, it can be tough for viewers to choose which streaming TV services to subscribe to. This, in turn, makes it difficult for brands to know where to allocate their advertising dollars in order to reach their ideal audiences.

MNTN Research is here to help! We’ve done a deep dive on the top ad-supported subscription streaming services so that you don’t have to. Here’s a look at the current state of each platform—cost, type of content, subscriber numbers, the popularity of each, and more.

Major Streaming Names Make Up List of Top Used VOD Services

While video-on-demand services are plentiful, the list of top-used options is full of familiar names. According to a recent Statista study¹, streaming heavyweights Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+ and HBO Max are the most viewed platforms in the U.S.

The following platforms round out the top 10 most used VOD services:

• Peacock
• Paramount+
• Apple TV+
• Discovery+
• YouTube Premium

Best Streaming Services Overview

With these top five VOD services in mind, here are some helpful facts and stats about each:

Amazon Prime Video

Disney+

HBO Max

One major point to note about HBO Max—next year it will merge with Discovery+. Warner Bros. Discovery (owner of both services) leadership announced summer 2023 as the official launch period for the combined platform. Some programming has already started to shift—HBO Max removed six Warner Bros. movies including “Moonshot” and “An American Pickle.” HBO Max has also begun to move away from kid-friendly content, canceling two films that were already well along in production—”Batgirl” and a new Scooby Doo feature called “Scoob!: Holiday Haunt”.

Hulu

Netflix

Disney+ Receives Top Consumer Satisfaction Score

With all the streaming competition out there, you might be wondering which platforms are performing best according to customers. The consumers have spoken and it turns out that Disney+ may be the happiest place as far as streaming television services are concerned. When asked “are you satisfied with your live TV streaming service?”, viewers were most satisfied with Disney+, Netflix and HBO Max⁹.

Here’s how the rest of the major streaming services stacked up:

• Hulu: 72%
• Amazon Prime Video: 71%
• Paramount+: 68%
• ESPN+: 62%
• Peacock: 59%
• Apple TV+: 56%

Top Streaming Services: Final Thoughts

Ad-supported subscription streaming services have become an integral part of the VOD space. Because of their unique offerings and pricing tiers, the major CTV platforms have garnered millions of subscribers. That said, in order to stay competitive, these services will have to continue to adjust their pricing and content to meet their customer wants and needs. As we head into 2023, and with new subscription tiers from the likes of Netflix and Disney+, it will be interesting to note which streaming TV services come out on top. Connected TV (CTV) advertisers should stay abreast of any streaming service pricing and content changes moving forward—this will allow them to know which platforms are best for targeting their ideal customers.