Even though Netflix lost more than 600,000 subscribers in the U.S. and Canada in the first quarter, the streaming giant saw the percentage of Americans tuning in at least once a week on the platform increase in the period, while Amazon Prime saw the largest decline among streaming services.
Data from Attest’s quarterly U.S. Media Consumption Tracker shows that Netflix had the greatest growth in regular users among streaming services in Q1, marking a 2.8% increase in people watching at least once a week. That increase takes Netflix’s audience to 71.2% of working-age Americans, according to Attest.
And a recent survey from Hub Entertainment Research found Netflix still ranks as a “must-have” entertainment service by a large majority, with 68% of respondents in that research saying it’s something their household couldn’t do without.
Meanwhile, in Attest’s quarterly tracker, the percentage of people tuning into Amazon Prime at least once a week declined by 5.2% as of March 28 (compared to the end of December 2021), with U.S. audience reach now at 41.3%. At over 40%, Amazon Prime still ranked third overall for audience among streamers, behind first-place Netflix and second-place Hulu – the latter which saw a 1.3% bump in viewers watching weekly in Q1.
Aside from Netflix and Hulu, NBCUniversal’s Peacock was the only other streaming service to notch an increase in weekly viewers in the first quarter, Attest found, with a 1.1% rise.
Comcast reported adding 4 million Peacock subscribers in the first quarter of 2022, ending the period with over 13 million paid users.
Amazon wasn’t alone in declines, others include HBO Max (down 3.1%), Disney+ (down 2.2%), and Paramount+ (down 0.8%). Virtual MVPDs YouTube TV and Sling TV both also marked quarterly dips of 0.4% for the percentage of people watching at least once a week.
The report highlights that despite subscriber losses, Netflix usage is still holding up – although noted that password sharing has been flagged as a problem.
Overall Attest said the amount of people tuning in to paid streaming services in the U.S. declined by 1%, but those watching spent more time doing so. Viewing time was up, with a 2.2% increase in people watching for more than 4 hours per day, to reach 13%.
As for Netflix, as the SVOD faces high U.S. penetration and millions of households sharing login credentials, the company is looking toward new models to help drive growth. That includes introduction of a lower-cost ad-supported tier, which reportedly could come to market as early as the fourth quarter. It’s also looking to monetize accounts that are sharing passwords with other households, having tested out a $3 per month per out of home user in three markets in Latin America last year.
In May Netflix started making employee cuts, beginning with about 150 positions that are largely U.S.-based.