Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video, two of the streaming industry’s pioneers, boast the most loyal subscribers, according to a study by research firm Parks Associates.
Netflix leads the pack, with an impressive average customer retention of over 55 months, while Prime Video subscribers stay engaged for more than 50 months. In stark contrast, Peacock lags behind, with customers sticking around for just over 10 months.
The retention durations reflect the established status of each service in the consumer landscape. Despite challenges such as price increases and password-sharing crackdowns, Netflix thrives, fueled by its extensive content library. Prime Video, bundled with the Prime subscription, maintains a low turnover, but the introduction of commercials next year may impact subscriber behavior.
Hulu secures the third position in subscriber loyalty, with a notable drop in retention for the subsequent tier, featuring Starz, Paramount Plus, and Disney Plus in fourth, fifth, and sixth places, respectively. Max and Apple TV Plus follow closely, marking another drop in retention before reaching the bottom tier, occupied by Peacock.
The evolving streaming landscape sees households experimenting with various services to build their personalized content stacks, notes Eric Sorensen, director of Parks Associates’ Streaming Video Tracker report.
“Households are still experimenting with different services as they evolve over time to build their own service stack,” Sorensen said. “Service consolidation has changed subscription dynamics, as Showtime has become part of Paramount Plus and HBO is now Max, but even as consolidation occurs, it is having a limited effect on churn for these services.”
Sorensen observes that premium service subscriptions, averaging around two years, indicate consumers derive better value from consolidated content, shaping the evolving dynamics of the streaming industry.
