How Many Streaming Accounts Can We Handle?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- On Tuesday, Apple announced its new streaming video service starting this fall. The company brought out big-name stars like Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey to introduce its competitor to Netflix and Hulu.
That had some experts wondering: Is there room for more? What are we already streaming? Good Question.
The streaming talk often focuses on the behemoth that is Netflix, but there are hundreds of services to choose from.
"We're just at the beginning of streaming," said Gene Munster, a managing partner at Loup Ventures, a venture capital company that invests in new technologies. "Essentially people are cutting the cord and that's what critical towards driving these streaming trends."
According to consulting firm Deloitte, 55 percent of U.S. households subscribe to a video streaming service. That's an increase of 450 percent over the past decade.
Netflix is the leader with 139 million subscribers, following by Amazon Prime (100 million) and Hulu (25 million). Rounding out the top ten are HBO Now, Starz, MLB.TV, Showtime, CBS All Access, Sling TV and DIRECTV Now. Each of those have between 2 and 5 million subscribers. (A note on Amazon's numbers: Not all Prime subscribers use video, but Munster estimates it's about one-third.)
The average subscriber pays for three subscriptions, according to Deloitte. For millennials, it's four. Munster believes that average could eventually grow to six or eight.
"It's dependent on these players to come up with compelling content," he says.