In the ever-evolving landscape of streaming services, PlumResearch, a company specializing in measuring viewership on streaming platforms, took a closer look at the top performing shows and movies on the most popular subscription-video-on-demand (SVOD) streaming services during the month of August: Prime Video, Disney+, Netflix, and Max. 

The streaming platforms landscape in the U.S.

When comparing unique viewership numbers, Netflix continues to dominate the SVOD landscape in the U.S., capturing approximately 200 million active unique viewers (UVs) during August. Disney+ follows with roughly half of Netflix's audience. Max and Prime Video trail well behind, only witnessing about a third of Netflix's strong UV numbers.

Releasing shows on the most popular platform gives access to more potential viewers, it makes comparing shows from different platforms difficult. To account for this, PlumResearch has ranked shows by share of viewing, or the percentage of viewers in a given platform a show captured.

What is watched and on which platforms in the U.S.

Source: Showlabs by PlumResearch. The table highlights titles with the highest Netflix viewing share, aggregating data across all seasons.

How leading streaming platforms navigate through viewer preferences, betting on original productions and strategic licensing

A noteworthy 40% of the top shows watched in August are composed of Netflix titles, with 75% of them being Netflix originals. This showcases Netflix's prowess in both creating original content that attracts its audience and strategically licensing shows tailored to its viewers' tastes.

Prime Video claimed the throne with a title that captured a significant portion of its audience. “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” an original romantic drama series, engaged nearly a quarter of Prime Video's viewers, drawing an impressive 16 million UVs and nearly 70 million Views overall. This accomplishment solidified the series as a standout hit for the platform.

Disney+ secured the runner-up position with its top-performing title of the month, the third installment of "Guardians of the Galaxy." With a 94% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it garnered more than 12 million UVs during August. This success was mirrored in the box office, with a debut that exceeded Disney’s expectations, making it the 12th highest opening of all time in the month of May, according to Deadline.

Netflix made its first appearance on the list in fourth place with the recently released thriller "Heart of Stone," starring Gal Gadot. This movie achieved 21 million UVs, making it the highest number of single profiles among the rankings and corresponding to 10% of the platform's viewers.

On Max, the classic series "South Park," grabbed the largest number of viewers. With 26 seasons released to date and the most recent one premiering earlier in the year, it garnered over six million UVs in August, equating to a massive 340 million Views overall. The recent news of an upcoming video game has added even more excitement to this long standing  series.

Notably, the majority of the content in the ranking was either released or arrived on the platforms in August. With the exception of "Suits" and "Bluey," which had their latest releases in June, and "South Park," which generated considerable hype, the rest of the content was fresh to the platforms.

“The trends in the data underscores that the viewership of platform audiences is primarily driven by the allure of new content rather than older offerings,” said Nicolás Herrera, Data Analyst at PlumResearch. “Furthermore, most of this fresh content is original programming, indicating the success of these platforms in creating content tailored to their audiences and effectively delivering it to them.”

Source: Showlabs by PlumResearch. The table highlights titles with the highest Netflix viewing share, aggregating data across all seasons. 

Netflix dominates with strategic mix of original content and high-performing licensed titles like “Suits”

Within the ranking, an impressive 60% of the titles are Netflix originals, spanning a diverse spectrum of genres and types. Four of the top five titles are Netflix originals, with "Suits" being the only exception. "Suits" has garnered massive success, engaging its audience and accumulating an impressive 340 million Views in the month. This reflects the effectiveness of Netflix's strategy in developing compelling original content and securing valuable licensing agreements.

Almost all the featured titles, with "Suits" as the exception, consist of fresh content, either released within the month or just a few days before it begins, as in the case of "Miraculous."

This proactive content release strategy is a common thread among all platforms, and it's especially noticeable in Netflix's approach, where the platform consistently launches content that has a strong likelihood of becoming popular hits.

What does the data tell us? The rivalry between platforms continues! 

The streaming world continues to evolve at a rapid pace, and the performance of top titles on SVOD platforms in August offers a glimpse into the constantly shifting dynamics of the streaming industry.

As Netflix continues to dominate the landscape, the competition remains fierce. Platforms like Disney+ and Prime Video are making significant strides, securing their positions by offering a mix of time-tested franchises and original content. These platforms' strategies showcase their commitment to not only capturing viewers, but also retaining viewer loyalty.

With viewers hungry for captivating experiences, platforms will likely look to continue to innovate, adapt, and deliver content that keeps audiences coming back for more. The streaming wars are far from over, and audiences are the ultimate beneficiaries of this ongoing battle for attention.

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Legend:

Share of Viewing [SoV/Metric]: is the percentage of all active profiles on the platform that watched at least 2 minutes of the given content.

Unique Viewer [UV/Metric]: a profile that has watched a given piece of content at least once for a minimum of 2 minutes.  

Views [V/Metric]: the number of views that corresponds to the number of times a given content was watched. For example, if a Unique Viewer (UV) watches two episodes of a series in one day, this counts as two views.