Out of the major streaming services available in the U.S., Amazon Prime Video seems to be the most popular with consumers, per a new study from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).
In a ranking of 10 streaming apps, Amazon Prime Video came out on top with an ACSI score of 80, an 8% increase from 74 in 2022. Peacock was the next highest (79), followed by Hulu, Netflix, Paramount+ and YouTube Premium, each receiving an ACSI rating of 78.
Perhaps it’s unsurprising Prime Video bagged the highest customer rating, as Parks Associates in December unveiled Amazon – for the first time in four years – overtook Netflix as the most-subscribed to service in the U.S.
2022 was also a notable content spending year for Amazon, as it began live streaming NFL Thursday Night Football as well as producing “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.”
Peacock’s customer satisfaction rating jumped 10% from 72 in 2022. Apple TV+ saw a similar increase, yet its ACSI rating is lower on the list at 76, right below HBO Max (now officially rebranded as Max).
Disney’s other streaming apps, Disney+ and ESPN+, fell on the lower end of customer satisfaction with ACSI scores of 76 and 72. Disney+, which plans to merge Hulu content with its platform by year-end, was the only streamer that saw a drop (3%) in its ACSI score. Meanwhile, AVOD streamer Crackle received the lowest ACSI ranking at 70.
The ACSI report rates customer satisfaction for streaming video and pay TV services, as well as for fiber and non-fiber ISPs. ACSI interviewed more than 22,000 customers at random between April 2022 and March 2023.
ACSI also ranked consumer satisfaction for live TV apps. Hulu+Live TV, which this year landed on the leaderboard for the first time, nabbed an ACSI score of 80, beating competitors like Dish’s Sling TV (76), YouTube TV (76) and DirecTV Stream (72).
Some virtual MVPDs, such as Fubo and Philo, aren’t mentioned in the report. However, ACSI noted the customer satisfaction score for “all other” streaming and live TV apps dropped from 78 in 2022 to 75 in 2023.
Within the pay TV category, DirecTV’s U-verse TV (78), Verizon Fios (74) and Frontier (72) touted the highest customer satisfaction ratings. ACSI noted overall pay TV satisfaction increased 5% year-over-year to a score of 69 – an “all-time high.”
“Nevertheless, traditional cable and satellite providers continue to lose customers to streaming alternatives, often over price concerns,” stated Forrest Morgeson, director of Research Emeritus at the ACSI. “Those that do remain tend to be more satisfied and loyal, which boosts customer satisfaction for the subscription TV industry overall.”