Netflix not
only has a major lead on its streaming competition when it comes to subscriber count, it also has a leg up with regard to the perception of its content.
According to data from the
end-to-end product validation platform Alpha, 68% of respondents say Netflix has the most appealing selection of content, when compared to Hulu, HBO and Amazon Prime Video.
Hulu
placed second with 13%, followed by Amazon Prime Video with 10% and HBO with 8%.
The depth of Netflix’s content library, covering comedy, drama, documentaries, reality
shows, stand-up comedy and more, appears to be the source of the appeal.
“Based on testing we've done in the media streaming space, the breadth of content is what makes
Netflix sticky for users,” Alpha cofounder Nis Frome tells Digital News Daily. “A long-tail of evergreen content helps to justify the monthly fees, even as they
increase.”
Hulu, like Netflix, also has a broad library of content, while Amazon has a smaller library, albeit one that covers numerous genres. HBO's library and focus
is smaller still.
As streaming services vie to become "essential" for users, the new research suggests that in order to achieve scale, some level of breadth is needed.
Disney,
WarnerMedia and NBCUniversal are all working on their own services, to launch in the next year. Exactly how deep those services will go is unknown.