HBO Max, Apple TV+ Join U.S. SVOD Top Ten

Parks Associates’ latest ranking of the top ten SVOD services in the U.S. has been released, with new entrants HBO Max and Apple TV+ making the cut—while the “big three” of Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu remain at the top of the list.

Based on the estimated number of subscribers through September 2020, the top three providers remain Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu. Disney+ is ranked fourth and ESPN+ fifth. HBO Max, Apple TV+, CBS All Access, Showtime and Starz round out the top ten. Sling TV has fallen out of the list, as has MLB.tv.

“For many years, the Big 3 in OTT, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu, have ruled the top of the subscription-based OTT service space,” said Steve Nason, research director at Parks Associates, and author of Parks Associates’ industry report The Next ‘Big 3’ in OTT. “However, with newer entrants and expanded offerings, that trend may be about to change. The Big 3 and their main challengers have gone to market with varying content and distribution strategies, with the same goal in mind: reach elusive consumers with a compelling content offering and user experience to be a foundational essential service in an OTT subscriber’s service stack.”

Nason continued, “The Walt Disney Company announced 10 million subscribers upon initial launch, which put Disney+ as fourth on the list, where it has remained for almost a year. That shows how difficult it will be for any service to break into the ‘Big 3’ for OTT services. Partnerships are essential. For example, HBO Max will get a boost from its deal with Amazon to roll out its service on Amazon Fire TV devices.”