New streaming services are introduced as their need increases, but Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime are the best for you right now. It’s tough to choose between these three since the total cost of all three subscriptions is roughly around $29 or P1,500 (depends on membership), but not everyone can afford to subscribe to all three at once. Here’s how these three stack up when it comes to factors like cost, content, service, revenue reach and subscribers.
Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime Video was introduced in 2006 as a subscription-based service. A full-featured entertainment and sports SVOD platform has emerged since then as an Amazon subsidiary. Additional premium channels like HBO and Showtime are available for purchase and ad-free access to live sports events. Amazon Prime Video relies on many yearly Prime members who pay $119 a year to access all the Prime features. According to estimates, Amazon Prime Video has 96.5 million subscribers as of the end of the year, and that number is rising.
Recently, the site has established itself as a distribution channel for premium television and film studios, competing with Netflix. Transparent and The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, two of Prime Video’s original series, have been critically acclaimed. The amount of money Amazon earns from Prime Video is difficult to estimate since the streaming service’s income is bundled with Amazon’s total membership numbers. The company expects to have 56 million customers by 2022, according to a report by Amazon.
Netflix
Netflix gained 4 million in the first quarter and 1.5 million new subscribers in the second quarter of this year. Compared to the previous year, there is a significant decrease in the number of people who joined over the same period. Netflix’s memberships increased rapidly in the first half of 2020 due to the pandemic but then slowed to an average rate of growth in the second half. Netflix has a global membership base of slightly over 209 million as of June 2021.
Subscription growth is down considerably from last year, but that was to be expected. And Netflix’s new 1.5 million members represent a 40% increase over the reserved 1 million users estimated in the company’s Q1 financial report released earlier this year. Despite this expansion, Netflix’s UCAN numbers fell for the first time since the second quarter of 2019. The number of subscribers in the United States and Canada fell from 74.38 million in the first quarter to 73.95 million in the second quarter of 2021. These results are due to Netflix having a significant subscriber base in the region and having a smaller acquisitions quarter.
Importantly, all of its expansion took place outside of the United States and Canada, where it lost around 400,000 customers. With a net of more than 1 million members, the Asia-Pacific region led growth.
Q2 revenue for Netflix was $7.3 billion, compared to $7.16 billion in the previous quarter. The company’s profit margins have never been more significant, thanks to reduced marketing and content expenditures.
Hulu
Hulu is currently not available in the Philippines. You need to get access to a VPN provider like ExpressVPN, NordVPN and Surfshark. If you’re a fan of the classics like Beverly Hills 90210, Felicity, Frasier and you dig thrillers like The Handmaid’s Tale, Clovehitch Killer, Coherence, High Rise and Hollow Man then it is worth the try. According to Hulu’s January announcement, its ad-supported tier would cost $5.99 per month instead of the previous $7.99 per month. While Hulu’s basic subscription tier costs less, Hulu with Live TV now costs $44.99 per month, up from $39.99 before. Both of these changes took effect in February and are now in full force. Hulu also revealed this year that the platform reached 42.8 Million subcribers across its SVOD and live TV platforms.
Many consumers want greater control and choice over their TV viewing. Streaming has shown its tremendous advantages to consumers, and they’re selecting which content and brands are most essential to them before signing up for Hulu. Revenue from Hulu’s advertising reached $2.7 billion in 2021. According to the firm’s statistics, Hulu earned approximately $1.82 billion in 2019 (up 25.3%) and $2.24 billion in 2020 (up 22.7%) before increasing by another 20.5 percent in 2021. According to the firm’s projections, there would be a roughly twofold increase in revenue with its ad revenue forecast to grow 18 percent in 2022.
