Almost each streaming service available on the market has raised the costs of its plans over the past two years, however just one has modified its complete identify as properly. Warner Bros. Discovery left many people scratching our heads when it changed HBO Max with Max, however that wasn’t sufficient to knock it off the highest spot in Whip Media’s 2023 US Streaming Satisfaction report (by way of Selection).
For the third yr operating, Max has the very best total satisfaction ranking of any streamer. That’s the excellent news for WBD. The dangerous information is that Max suffered probably the most precipitous drop as properly — from 94% in 2022 to 88% in 2023. It’s not onerous to determine why.
After operating away with the highest spot in 2022, Max’s buyer satisfaction is now 1% increased than Hulu’s, which held regular at 87% for the second yr in a row. In the meantime, Disney+ dropped into third place from 88% in 2022 to 85% in 2023. Netflix continued its descent as properly, tumbling from 90% in 2021 to 80% in 2022 to 77% in 2023. However I’m constructive the upcoming Netflix worth hike will assist enhance buyer satisfaction in 2024.
Whereas the largest names in streaming battle to fulfill subscribers, the mid-tier companies are on the rise. After climbing from 75% to 79% in 2022, Paramount+ didn’t budge in 2023. Prime Video rose by 2%, Apple TV+ elevated by 5%, and Peacock jumped by 6%.
The vital takeaway from this survey of two,011 U.S. adults is that the hole between streaming companies is shrinking fairly quickly. In 2021, HBO Max was 30 factors increased than Peacock (92% to 62%). Two years later, Max is simply 14 factors increased than Peacock and Prime Video (88% to 74%). Netflix appears like an outlier now, however it may not in one other yr or two.
“Right now’s SVOD competitors is fierce!” Whip Media notes. “Subscriber churn and optionality are each rising as tens of millions of customers are prepared to substitute new streaming companies — even when briefly — to succeed in probably the most resonant mixture of authentic and library content material.”
