Netflix’s Market Share Decline Continues In 2023: Analysis Of Leading Streaming Platforms

PeacockTV and Paramount+ lead growth in the US streaming market, as Netflix and Disney+ see traffic share declines in Q1

The streaming industry has experienced exponential growth in recent years, with an influx of companies vying for consumers’ attention in an increasingly crowded market. As new players emerge and challenge Netflix’s dominance, the competition has become fierce, with the focus shifting to critical battlegrounds such as pricing strategy, affordability, and innovative exclusive content offerings that can attract and retain viewers.

In a macroeconomic environment where companies are prioritizing profitability and budget-strapped consumers are coping with less discretionary dollars, companies like Netflix are looking to combat both with changes like their new ad-supported tier and password-sharing limitations.

In this report, we analyze the digital market share of the industry’s top streaming platforms, including Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, YouTube TV, Peacock TV, Paramount+, and HBO Max.

Key takeaways

• Netflix maintained its position as the leading streaming platform in the US in Q1 2023 with a market share of 44.21%, down 5.56% from Q1 2022.
• PeacockTV experienced the most significant growth in market share, increasing from 5.62% in Q1 2022 to 8.08% in Q1 2023, a growth of 43.85%.
• Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ experienced a decline in quarterly visits from Q1 2022 to Q1 2023, with Netflix seeing the largest decline at -29.8%. In contrast, Peacock TV and Paramount Plus saw growth in quarterly visits during the same period.
• The streaming industry has shown on average -20.2% monthly traffic declines YoY in Q1 2023, with year-over-year percentage changes consistently in the negative, indicating challenges ahead in a post-pandemic world.

Market Share Over Time

• In Q1 2023, Netflix maintained its position as the leading streaming platform in the US with a market share of 44.21%, down 5.56% from its market share of 49.72% in Q1 2022 when compared to leading platforms.
• Hulu increased its market share from 20.32% in Q1 2022 to 21.18% in Q1 2023, a growth of 3.37%.
• HBO Max’s market share remained relatively stable, decreasing -0.2% from 10.63% in Q1 2022 to 10.61% in Q1 2023.
• PeacockTV experienced the most significant growth, with a market share of 8.08% in Q1 2023, up from 5.62% in Q1 2022, indicating a growth of 43.85%.
• Disney+ experienced a slight decline in its market share from 6.73% in Q1 2022 to 6.40% in Q1 2023, a decline of 4.91%.
• YouTube TV and Paramount+ both experienced large increases in their market shares from Q1 2022 to Q1 2023, with YouTube TV growing 24.7% from 4.16% to 5.18% year over year, and Paramount+ growing from 2.82% to 4.34% (a growth of 53.9%).

Netflix’s decline in US market share has continued in 2023, dropping to 44.21% in Q1, down 6% YoY. While it is still the largest player in the market, it’s a clear indication that the streaming landscape is becoming increasingly competitive. It will be interesting to see if Netflix can reverse this trend with changes to its business model via its lower-priced ad-tier and password-sharing limitations, or if it will continue to lose ground to other streaming services.

Meanwhile, HBOMax and PeacockTV both continue to grow in March 2023, with market shares of 10.31% and 8.08%, respectively. It seems that these relatively newer entrants to the market are successfully gaining traction and attracting subscribers.

Note that these figures only represent website traffic and may not fully reflect the overall market share of these streaming services, as many users access these platforms through their respective apps on various devices. Nonetheless, this data provides insight into popularity and growth trends.

Year Over Year Changes in Traffic

Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ all experienced a decline in quarterly visits from Q1 2022 to Q1 2023, with Netflix seeing the largest decline at -29.8%. In contrast, Peacock TV and Paramount Plus saw growth in quarterly visits during the same period, with Paramount Plus having the highest growth rate at 21.46%. HBO Max and TV YouTube saw a mix of growth and decline over the same period.

The Streaming Industry Faces Challenges Ahead

The industry trend (based on the top 10 streaming platforms in our analysis) shows a decline in the streaming industry from June 2022 to March 2023, with year-over-year percentage changes consistently in the negative. The data indicates that the decline has accelerated in the past few months, with the percentage change dropping sharply from -9.68% in October 2022 to -21.13% in February 2023, and -18.06% in March 2023.

Who Is Capturing Netflix’s Market Share?

The overarching trend shows that Netflix continues to lose market share, while the other major streaming services, including Hulu, Disney+, and TV YouTube, have remained relatively stable. Meanwhile, HBO Max, Peacock TV, and Paramount Plus have seen growth in market share over the past few quarters and have proven to be the next big companies to look out for. Most importantly, stay tuned as we look to follow the HBO Max and Discovery+ merger coming up this spring.

Publicly traded or owned companies mentioned in this report include Netflix (NFLX:NASDAQ), HBO Max (NASDAQ:WBD), Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA), Disney+ (NASDAQ:DSNY), Peacock TV (CMCSA:NASDAQ), Youtube TV (GOOGL:NASDAQ)

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Report By: Sneha Pandey, Insights Manager

Methodology

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