Parks Associates’ latest streaming video research highlights what it is calling a “new era of streaming scale” with data showing that Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) would extend the combined company’s reach to 57% of all US internet households.
This deal would put it on par with the four streaming giants, Netflix, Google, Amazon, and Disney, which each reach nearly 60% of all consumers via their various platforms and services.
According to the latest data, nearly two-thirds (64%) of US internet households use Netflix, making it the most widely adopted streaming ecosystem. Amazon follows closely, with 61% of households engaging across its portfolio, including Prime Video and MGM+, while YouTube’s suite of services reaches 61% of households as well. Disney’s multi-platform strategy, including Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, drives adoption among 58% of households.
“There is a clear shift in how consumers engage with streaming content,” said Michael Goodman, Director, Entertainment Research, Parks Associates. “Unless you are Netflix, it’s no longer about a single flagship service. Success increasingly depends on building a broad ecosystem of complementary offerings that keep viewers within a single brand family.”
Parks Associates provides monthly updates on the streaming ecosystem through multiple research services, including the Streaming Video Tracker. This research service delivers monthly reports on market and consumer trends, quarterly estimates on subscriber growth, and ongoing analysis on distribution strategies (e.g., film, broadcast, pay TV, SVOD, FAST, AVOD) and business models (e.g., licensing, subscription, advertising, transaction).
Parks Associates data also shows strong performance from hybrid and legacy media conglomerates. Fox, Comcast (Peacock), and Roku continue to build meaningful engagement through niche and free streaming platforms.
The findings highlight several ongoing major trends shaping the streaming industry:
- Ecosystem Advantage: Companies offering multiple services under one brand are better positioned to retain and grow audiences.
- Aggregation Strategy: Bundling across SVOD, AVOD, and live content is becoming a key competitive differentiator.
- Discovery Innovation: Improved navigation, recommendations, and AI-driven personalization will be critical to reducing churn.
- Parks Associates expects further consolidation and deeper integration across streaming portfolios as competition intensifies.
The Streaming Video Tracker is a comprehensive tool that tracks the streaming video services industry. This research provides extensive profiling for streaming video services in the US and Canada. It also estimates subscribers, viewers, and transactional users, including those that do not publicly release customer figures.
More information is available at https://www.parksassociates.com.
