comScore: Netflix Still Leads OTT Market, YouTube Gaining Ground

Netflix is still the most dominant OTT platform in the U.S., comScore reports, but market competition is intensifying, with 11 services now reaching more than 1 million or more homes every month.

As of December 2016, 49 million homes (53 percent of U.S. WiFi-connected homes) accessed at least one OTT provider. These homes watched OTT content on average 19 days a month, for 2.2 hours per usage day. Netflix leads with a 75-percent share of those homes, with YouTube gaining ground at 53 percent. Amazon Video is third with 33 percent and Hulu fourth at 17 percent.

Netflix came in second in terms of engagement, averaging 28 hours of viewing time per home behind Sling TV, with 47 hours.

While three out of four homes watch Netflix, 25 percent watch only rival services. Of note, more than 30 percent of YouTube’s and Twitch’s TV audiences don’t watch Netflix. That number is 14 percent for Hulu subs.

“OTT is a growing and increasingly important segment of the video viewing landscape, and the popularity of multiple services beyond Netflix suggests the market is poised for more growth,” observed Mike Rich, VP of emerging products at comScore. “With 50 percent of households still yet to engage with OTT as of December 2016, there is a major opportunity for a number of services to help fill this vacuum. The question is whether—or to what extent—Netflix can retain its leadership position in this space as that happens.”