Whip Media's 2023 Streaming Satisfaction Study: Surprising Shifts Among Ultra-Competitive Platforms

When we first fielded the study in 2021 30 points separated the platform with the highest satisfaction Max 92 and the lowest Peacock 62 The spread contracted to 26 points in 2022 and 14 points in 2023 or a 53 decrease over the last three yearsThis yearamp8217s study shows that subscriber satisfaction among the top tier of platforms as a function of content quality variety and derived product value is gradually declining while midtier platforms rise in satisfaction The narrowing competitive SVOD market indicates that there is high demand for showing the right mix of original and library content while consistently maintaining a delightful viewer experience all of which subscribers have come to expect as part of overall valueThe top three platforms are the same as last year but the order has changed Max held on to its 1 position Hulu is ranked 2 and showed no change in overall satisfaction from last year The Disney majorityowned platform is only one point behind Max 87 vs 88quotWe39re so proud that Max continues to lead the industry in overall viewer satisfaction said Lori Locke Executive Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer Warner Bros Discovery quotWarner Bros Discovery is committed to delivering the quality programming experience and value that have made Max the goto network for our tens of millions of viewers amp8211 something that is clearly reflected in this reportquotMidtier platform trends accelerate as overall satisfaction risesThe midtier of streaming platforms including Apple TV Hulu Peacock Prime Video and Paramount are rising in overall satisfaction due to their strength in quality and variety of programming and user experienceApple TV took the spotlight and is ranked 4 in overall satisfaction among subscribers increasing 5 points from last year to 81 Apple TV remains solidly ahead of Netflix and Prime Video in overall subscriber satisfactionHulu continues to return solid satisfaction in the quality and variety of originals and across other measurements The platform exhibits a relatively stable performance with a threeyear average overall satisfaction of 88Notably Peacock showed the largest gain in overall satisfaction increasing 6 points to 74 and was galvanized by subscribersamp8217 strong reception to the quality of its original contentWeakening trends among platform leaders persistThis year Netflix is joined by the previous leaders in satisfaction Max and Disney ranked 1 and 2 in 2022 respectively in attempting to respond to broad pressure across content and engagement measurements that indicate changing customer perceptions of leading service valueNetflix continues to fall in satisfaction from 2022 and 2021 declining 3 points and 13 points respectively yet the veteran streamer still holds on to the top rankings in the categories of user experience and programming recommendations which subscribers have rewarded since 2021 Compared to other major platforms in 2023 Netflix has experienced greater value perception issues in addition to a challenging operating environment More significantly the platformamp8217s 1 rank in the category of amp8220indispensabilityamp8221 also weakened for a third yearDisney was hit particularly hard in the categories of quality and variety of original series While 77 and 71 of respondents are satisfied with Disneyamp8217s quality and variety of originals respectively the platform shed 7 points in each category from last year amp8211 the largest decline of all SVODsMax held on to its 1 position while experiencing its largest decline in overall satisfaction among all SVODs falling 6 points to 88 from 94 last year Max carries strength in the quality of its original programming and is still ranked 1 for a second year in a row while declining 3 pointsHow to navigate the evolving SVOD marketThis yearamp8217s survey demonstrates that overall satisfaction among the top tier of streaming platforms amp8211 Netflix Disney and Max amp8211 is waning while the major midtier service players amp8211 Apple TV Hulu Peacock Prime Video and Paramount amp8211 have been boosted in satisfaction and rank Shifting consumer preferences are shaping new content and delivery opportunities at the expense of the higher fee platform leaders and to the benefit of midtier platformsWe asked subscribers if they planned to spend more less or the same amount of money on streaming services in the next year Among the 30 of subscribers who said they plan to spend less 52 said canceling their services amp8220indefinitely or temporarilyamp8221 were the most common actions respectively Notably 37 said they would use more free streaming services also known as FAST channels which is an accelerating global trend in how audiences are consuming mediaSubscriber churn and optionality are both increasing as millions of users are willing to substitute new streaming platforms amp8211 even if temporarily amp8211 to reach a most resonant mix of original and library content SVOD players must make smart and datainformed strategic content decisions to keep their paying customers engaged and understand how to appeal to viewers who still seek a traditional linear television content viewing experienceYou can access Whip Mediaamp8217s full 2023 Streaming Satisfaction Survey at this linkThis article was written by Debbie Neveu Senior Vice President of Transformation for Whip Media the entertainment industryamp8217s leading content performance tracking revenue reporting and content intelligence platform Neveu is an entertainment finance and business transformation executive with 20 years of experience working with iconic media and entertainment brandsPosted at MediaVillage through the Thought Leadership selfpublishing platformClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageorgMyersBizNet

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Whip Media's 2023 Streaming Satisfaction Study: Surprising Shifts Among Ultra-Competitive Platforms

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