Cord cutters remain interested in original content and Netflix remains heads and shoulders above the competition when it comes to creating the best original content. A study by Morgan Stanley, which was first reported by Variety, shows that 38% of survey respondents ranked Netflix as the No. 1 streaming service offering the best original programming. This is in line with a study we reported on earlier this year that also had Netflix ranked as the streaming service with the best original content.
Which Premium/OTT Service Has the Best Original Programming?
The report goes on to say that Netflix was the top choice because the streaming behemoth offers a “broad selection of content” (55%), “good original programming” (51%), “adds content I like” (49%) and “no commercials” (46%). Netflix’s investment into content has increased by nearly 10% this year, according to Bankr, the streaming provider is projected to spend $19 billion on content in 2021.
After Netflix, the Morgan Stanley survey shows a steep dropoff when it comes to the best original programming as Amazon is ranked second, with about a third of the survey respondents at 12%. Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max follow with each scoring around 6%-7% of total responses.
Not only is Netflix ranked No. 1 when it comes to the best original content, but according to the survey, it is also the most widely used streaming service. 58% of respondents say they use Netflix, Amazon Prime Video follows at 45%, then Disney Plus at 31%, and lastly HBO/HBO Max was at 20%. Peacock and Discovery+ were new additions to the Morgan Stanley survey with 13%, and 7% user penetration, respectively, in their debuts.
According to the survey, Disney’s bundle strategy seems to be effective as 58% of Hulu subscribers that were surveyed are also using Disney+, which is a single percentage increase from 2020. However, the study also shows that 84% of Hulu subscribers are subscribed to Netflix, too.
As the popularity of streaming keeps growing, the survey shows that the average American household is subscribed to 2.5 streaming video services which is a slight increase from 2020’s 2.3 services. At the end of 2020, Morgan Stanley estimates that there were more than 300 million streaming subscriptions in the U.S. Plus, TV sets connected to the internet are becoming more accessible as nearly three-fourths of every U.S. household has one in 2021. In addition, nearly two-thirds of those connected households reported having more than one connected TV, which correlates with the growth of streaming.
“The 2021 survey included more than 25 streaming services, including 18 paid streamers. For the study, Morgan Stanley’s AlphaWise research unit polled 3,100 U.S. adults representative of the overall population. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 1.5% at a 95% confidence level,” according to Variety.