It probably didn't take a survey to let everyone know that Amazon's (Nasdaq: AMZN) Instant Video service is quickly gaining ground among consumers in the OTT video space. Nevertheless, 451 Research's ChangeWave service issued a survey that showed Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) is still king of the space, but Amazon is more than just a pretender standing in the shadows.
"Consumers continue to shift toward Amazon's Instant Video service," Andy Golub of 451 Research's ChangeWave service said in a news release. "As Amazon TV and movie content becomes more competitive with Netflix, its popularity is surging among consumers."
Of course "surging" always needs to be put into perspective. According to the survey of 1,115 American consumers, Netflix, at 82 percent, is well ahead of the rest of the field, even though it's down two points since last February. Amazon Instant Video is second, up five percentage points to 22 percent, followed by iTunes (16 percent) and Hulu Plus (8 percent).
Seventeen percent of consumers cited the recent addition of EPIX online movie distribution channel to the Amazon Instant Video lineup as a reason why they are "more likely" to cancel their Netflix subscription, and 18 percent say they have subscriptions to both Netflix and Amazon Instant Video.
Consumers are also shifting to tablets as the way they connect to get streaming online video, the survey said, noting that the iPad is now the number one Internet-connected device, with 32 percent of consumers—up 7 percent since February—using it to link to online video. Blu-ray players came in second, with 32 percent (down two points) followed by iPhones (25 percent, up five points) and video game consoles (24 percent), down a point.
Finally, customers seemed to be most satisfied with their Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) connections, with 35 percent listing themselves as "very satisfied" with iTunes while 23 percent gave the same thumbs up to Netflix, 22 percent to amazon and 20 percent to Hulu Plus.
For more:
- 451 Research issued this news release
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