Netflix may be commonly seen as the primary streaming service in the world, but research firm eMarketer has revealed that competitors such as Amazon Prime Video and Hulu could cause it to slip in the stakes a little. This is because other companies are taking on more market share, and new providers are entering the industry.

The firm states that 158.8 million viewers are predicted to be watching Netflix, and the service has posted continued growth. That being said, overall streaming viewers on Netflix are down 3% in the last five years – from 90% to 87%. What’s more, eMarketer has predicted that Netflix will continue to decline over the next five years.

So which platforms will people be streaming from instead? While Netflix declines slightly in popularity, Amazon Prime Video will retain its position as the second largest subscription OTT service provider as 2019 draws to a close. It is expected to have 96.5 million viewers this year, which is an increase of 8.8% compared with 2018. Meanwhile, Hulu has been predicted to have 75.8 million US viewers in 2019, which makes up around 41.5% of subscribers of OTT video services.

The report indicated that around a third of the US population is expected to be streaming via Amazon Prime Video in 2021, and around 55% will be watching content using OTT subscriptions in 2019.

One factor the report hasn’t taken into account is the market share which could be used up by new services such as Disney+ and Apple TV+, which will both be launching later this year. Similarly, we can expect HBO Max and NBCUniversal’s streaming service to join the streaming wars in 2020.

Eric Haggstrom, forecasting analyst at eMarketer, said: ‘While there is no true ‘Netflix killer’ on the market, Disney’s upcoming bundle with Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ probably comes closest. Netflix’s answer has been to stick to what has made it the market leader—outspending the competition on both licensed and original content, offering customers a competitive price.’

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