• by Wayne Friedman , August 16, 2023

When it comes to U.S. consumer demand for U.S. programming overall on any network/platform -- original or library programming, regardless of exclusivity -- the bulk of content ownership still resides with legacy media companies, according to Parrot Analytics.

In the second quarter of this year, Walt Disney had a leading demand share of 20.1%, followed by Warner Bros. Discovery with 17.6%, Paramount Global at 12.2%, NBCUniversal with 9.8% and Netflix at 8.2%.

Parrot defines "demand share" as user data gathered from daily "expressions" of demand from over two billion people in over 100 languages in more than 200 countries. Expressions are those who "interact with content and talent."

Data comes from search engines, wikis and informational sites, fan and critic ratings sites, social video sites, blogs and microblogging sites, social-media platforms, peer-to-peer apps and open streaming platforms.

With many individual streaming platforms still money-losing operations, many corporate owners such as Warner Bros. Discovery continue to shift library TV and movie programming -- off their streaming platforms, such as Max, to be sold to third-party networks and CTV platforms.

Looking specifically at streaming demand for individual platforms, according to the research, global demand was up 21.6% in the second quarter of this year -- with Netflix still dominant as competitors make gains.

In the U.S. Netflix also continues to lead all competitors by a wide margin with a 36.3% original demand share  -- down 41% from a year ago.

Still, Netflix remains the only consistent profitable U.S. streaming service.

“Look for Netflix to double down on international content if the strikes drag on,” according to Parrot Analytics. “But will this be enough to make up for delayed seasons of its smash hits like ‘Wednesday’, ‘Stranger Things’, and ‘Emily in Paris’?”

The next-closest competitor to Netflix: Amazon Prime Video, 8.6% -- which lost 9% year-over-year.

Moving into third place -- on the back of “Ted Lasso,” Apple TV+ is now at  8.3% share (up 7% year-over-year).