• by Wayne Friedman , January 13, 2022

While premium streaming providers keep the competitive pressure on dominant industry leader Netflix, the big subscription video service still produced more original content than many of the top services combined.

In the fourth quarter 2021, Netflix release 835 content episodes, up from 554 episodes in the fourth quarter the year before, according to MoffettNathanson Research Analysis.

HBO Max is in a distant second place -- now at 302 -- for the quarter, Amazon Prime Video, 248; and Hulu, 148. Disney+ is far behind with 98.

The positive for Disney+, according to Nielsen, is it has a strong overall streaming share of total TV usage relative to other competitors -- 2%. Amazon Prime Video is also at 2%. Netflix continues to lead with a 7% share, followed by YouTube, 6%; and Hulu 3%.

MoffettNathanson says Paramount+ and Peacock appear to have gained momentum in the fourth quarter.

Among newer services, when survey respondents were asked what paid services are currently used in their household, 21% said Peacock (up from 11% the year before); Paramount+ grew to 11% (from 6% in the second quarter 2021). HBO Max was at 17%; and discovery+ at 8%.

The research company estimates for the fourth quarter, Netflix will add 8.6 million global subscribers with the biggest growth coming from the Asia-Pacific with 3.1 million. Worldwide, this means Netflix will total 222.2 million subscribers -- up from 213.6 million in the third quarter 2021.

In the U.S./Canada, Netflix is estimated to add 550,000 subscribers. Overall, this will total 74.6 million subscribers.