Fewer new or returning subscribers for the maturing streaming TV
business are coming to platforms because of specific shows.
Original content production has slowed down -- especially for the streaming platforms owned by legacy TV network-based media
companies.
The evidence is from consumers who consider content to be the “best” when it comes to “exclusive originals.”
The winner here is the premium streaming
leader -- Netflix. Fifty-six percent considered Netflix the "best" of all streamers when it comes to exclusive original programming.
Trailing by a good 13 or more percentage points are
Disney+ (43%), Max (42%), Hulu (41%) and Prime Video (40%).
Max in particular has seen a sharp decline -- down 12 percentage points from two years ago, when it was at 54%.
This
consumer sentiment goes hand in hand with future behaviors. For example, while 27% expect to sign up for a new service in the next six months, 20% also say they expect to cancel a service during that
same time period.
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Discovery still seems to be an issue for consumers in terms of streaming brand identification with that of major streaming TV series.
For example, just 58% of
consumers knew the streaming platform on which “Stranger Things” airs -- Netflix.
Worse still, just 36% knew where “Game of Thrones” played -- on Max -- and a tiny 19%
knew that “The White Lotus” was also on Max.
At the same time, consumers also have high opinions of those FAST platforms that are not wedded to a specific high-level
service.
Among those free advertising-supported streaming networks, Tubi, Roku, and Pluto TV got the best results over premium, mostly ad-free streamers -- at 40%, 37%, and 34%, respectively
-- when it comes to services with the “best value.”