Streaming Wars 2020

By Audrey Erb

Disney+, HBO Max, Netflix, Hulu and the newest, Peacock, are all involved in the streaming wars currently. Peacock depends on their audience on whether they will be successful or not. This will show how badly people want their reruns and how good the new shows are for that cheap price. There are many streaming wars going on currently and we are just going to be discussing this small bunch.

Pricing for each:

• Disney+ ($6.99 a month)
• HBO Max ($14.99 a month)
• Netflix ($8.99 a month)
• Hulu ($7.99 a month)
• Peacock ($4.99 a month or $9.99 ad free a month)

Amount of Users:

• Disney+ (25 million)
• HBO Max (50 million)
• Netflix (174.1 million)
• Hulu (28 million)
• Peacock (N/A)

Disney+, made it onto the Top 10 charts with The Mandalorian at No. 7, then stomped Stranger Things and took the No. 1 spot for three weeks. The Mandalorian also topped the rankings on ListenFirst, which is an interest score showing as a fan footprint in the numbers and size of digital following. The Mandalorian also dominated the weekly Top 100 Most-Watched shows list by Reelgood.

HBO Max is connected with AT&T so if customers already are with AT&T and have UVerse and DirecTV, they will not have to pay extra. While Netflix is at #1 currently, it does not mean they will stay there forever. Friends has been removed, which is now on HBO Max, for a game changer. HBO Max will also have The Big Bang Theory and South Park, two exclusives that will only be found here. AT&T customers who are already subscribed to HBO will have HBO Max free as its launches, including some newer unlimited plans.

Netflix is already at No. 1 so they are holding the ground passing the first big test since Apple and Disney launched rival services. They just added 8.8 million worldwide subscribers during its fourth quarter passing expectation when the competition heated up. Netflix has one major advantage towards the competition though since it has been collecting data on the shows viewers crave for years. Netflix is in the global market which means six out of every seven new Netflix subscribers live outside the United States. Netflix also doesn’t have any interest in introducing ads as other companies have already dominated in the digital advertising market.

Hulu is one of the top three most popular video streaming services in the United States. They will be going through a lot of changes over the next few months as new competitors enter the market. Hulu’s pricing is much cheaper than others which makes it much more affordable than the competition. Now that Hulu is fully under Disney’s control, it’s more likely the company will grow its ad sales and include Hulu’s ads. Hulu should also benefit from the streaming bundle including Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ for only $13 a month. Hulu has already had some hits with original series such as The Handmaid’s Tale, PEN15 and The Act. Hulu’s investments in original series will get a boost under Disney’s control. Hulu is currently one  of the least expensive options on the market for streaming live TV, which came out recently called Hulu + Live TV.

Peacock, the newest streaming service coming out soon will include a mix of old TV movies and TV shows. This will include The Office (in 2021), the Battlestar Galactica, sneak peeks of Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show and a big dose of the 2020 Olympics. ComCast states their main selling point will be that the main version of Peacock will be free, and to be making most of its money by selling ads. Whenever Peacock launches on July 15, 2020, it will be the fourth new streaming service to arrive in the past eight months. It will include 7,500 hours of ad-supported free content including next day broadcast of shows like This is Us and more.

Each of these platforms all have some advantages and disadvantages involved in this streaming war. The results will just depend on how people respond to each as the months go by and which will show who gets the number one spot.