• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, 6 hours ago

While major wide-content premium streaming platforms -- Netflix, Paramount+, Peacock, Disney+, and others -- vie for top share of subscription and advertising revenue, Antenna says there are scores of other lesser services that are doing well -- if not better -- than the biggest platforms.

The subscription streaming researcher says that overall, specialized streaming services grew to a collective 42 million paying subscribers for the first six months of 2026 -- a 14% improvement versus a year ago.

These include services such as AMC+, BritBox, BET+, MGM+, and Crunchyroll.

Overall, speciality streamers represent about 13% of all streaming video subscriptions, which total 340 million U.S. subscriptions.

This is higher than the 6% growth for those premium streaming services.

Antenna says about 35% of all U.S. video subscribers -- those that typically have one to three of the bigger services -- also have one of the niche- based services.

Where do U.S. subscribers go to shop for these niche services? The biggest streaming retailer/distributor Amazon Channels (67%), Roku (13%), and Apple's iTunes (8%).

Amazon has grown its share by 6.6 million in gross additions, compared to a 61% share a year ago. Roku Channel added 1.4 million subscribers.

Antenna says of the 339 million U.S. streaming video subscriptions, about 20% come from a broader combination of non-premium platforms -- "specialty" streamers, sports streamers and virtual pay TV programs distributed such a s Sling TV, YouTube TV and Hulu+Live TV.

Specialty/niche streamers are skewed towards older audiences -- 39% are 55 years and older.

The survey results were drawn from 31 niche services, including A&E Crime Central*, Acorn TV, ALLBLK, Cinemax, CuriosityStream, Fox Nation, Hallmark+, Howdy (Roku), Lifetime Movie Club, and MovieSphere+, among others.

One major question is whether any of these niche services will -- in future years -- take share away from bigger premium streaming channels.

Can they maintain growth, get to profitability, and remain competitive with other similar niche services?