Does Netflix have the biggest streaming library? Not anymore for TV shows, and not for awhile in movies
Netflix is number one - but not in movies and TV.
What is the biggest streaming service in the world? While that might seem an easy answer to google, it's actually not - it depends on what you mean by biggest. Some recent research by Reelgood has compared the eight major streaming services in the U.S. - Netflix, Amazon's Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, Peacock, Max, Paramount+, and Apple TV+ - and came back with some data that settles the debate... for now, at least.
How many TV shows does Netflix have?
According to research from Reelgood, Hulu has surged ahead of Netflix this year to have more TV shows to watch than Netflix - or any other service out there, even ones owned by TV networks such as Peacock, Disney+, and Max.
As of October 2022, Hulu had 2,656 different TV shows available, compared to Netflix's 2,495. Amazon's Prime Video comes in at a close third with 2,135, with the other services Max, Peacock, Paramount+, Disney+, and Apple TV+ trailing behind.
While Netflix hasn't said why it's pulled back in the number of TV shows, it's focus on original content that it owns is a good indicator of where the streamer is going.
How many movies does Netflix have?
As far as movies go, Netflix hasn't been had the largest movie library in years - and for the past three years it's been dwarfed by Amazon's Prime Video. For the past three years, Amazon's Prime Video has floated around 11-14,000, with it having 12,071 as of October 2023. Netflix, for comparison, has 3,977. Peacock comes in a close third with 3,950.
If you think about it, the answer is clear - while Netflix does make movies, it's business model seems more based on TV shows; especially considering how Netflix is known to release TV shows. Releasing episodes in one large chunk equates them to being a serialized movie, however usually the budget is less-per-minute than a movie.
Is Netflix the biggest streaming service?
So while Netflix doesn't have the biggest movie or TV library, the one stat it does come in first at is subscribers - with 247.15 million at last count. Amazon's Prime Video comes in a close second at 205 million, while Disney+ is a distant third at 150.2 million.
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