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Which Streaming Service Has the Most Subscriptions?

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Streaming Service Subscriptions 2020

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Which Streaming Service Has The Most Subscriptions?

Many companies have launched a streaming service over the past few years, trying to capitalize on the digital media shift and launching the so-called “streaming wars.”

After Netflix grew from a small DVD-rental company to a household name, every media company from Disney to Apple saw recurring revenues ripe for the taking. Likewise, the audio industry has long-since accepted Spotify’s rise to prominence, as streaming has become the de facto method of consumption for many.

But it was actually the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic that solidified the foothold of digital streaming, with subscription services seeing massive growth over the last year. Although it was expected that many new services would flounder along the way, media subscription services saw wide scale growth and adoption almost across the board.

We’ve taken the video, audio, and news subscription services with 5+ million subscribers to see who came out on top—and who has grown the most quickly—over the past year. Data comes from the FIPP media association as well as individual company reports.

Streaming Service Giants: Netflix and Amazon

The top of the streaming giant pantheon highlights two staples of business: the first-mover advantage and the power of conglomeration.

With 200+ million global subscribers, Netflix has capitalized on its position as the first and primary name in digital video streaming. Though its consumer base in the Americas has begun to plateau, the company’s growth in reach (190+ countries) and content (70+ original movies slated for 2021) has put it more than 50 million subscribers ahead of its closest competition.

The story is the same in the audio market, where Spotify’s 144 million subscriber base is more than double that of Apple Music, the next closest competitor with 68 million subscribers.

Meanwhile, Amazon’s position as the second most popular video streaming service with 150 million subscribers might be surprising. However, Prime Video subscriptions are included with membership to Amazon Prime, which saw massive growth in usage during the pandemic.

ServiceTypeSubscribers (Q4 2020)
NetflixVideo203.7M
Amazon Prime VideoVideo150.0M
SpotifyAudio144.0M
Tencent VideoVideo120.0M
iQIYIVideo119.0M
Disney+Video94.9M
YoukuVideo90.0M
Apple MusicAudio68.0M
Amazon Prime MusicAudio55.0M
Tencent Music (Group)Audio51.7M
ViuVideo41.4M
Alt BalajiVideo40M
HuluVideo38.8M
Eros NowVideo36.2M
Sirius XmAudio34.4M
YouTube PremiumVideo/Audio30M
Disney+ HotstarVideo18.5M
Paramount+Video17.9M
HBO MaxVideo17.2M
Starz/StarzPlay/PantayaVideo13.7M
ESPN+Video11.5M
Apple TV+Video10M
DAZNVideo8M
DeezerAudio7M
PandoraAudio6.3M
New York TimesNews6.1M

Another standout is the number of large streaming services based in Asia. China-based Tencent Video (also known as WeTV) and Baidu’s iQIYI streaming services both crossed 100 million paid subscribers, with Alibaba’s Youku not far behind with 90 million.

Disney Leads in Streaming Growth

But perhaps most notable of all is Disney’s rapid ascension to the upper echelons of streaming service giants.

Despite Disney+ launching in late 2019 with a somewhat lackluster content library (only one original series with one episode at launch), it has quickly rocketed both in terms of content and its subscriber base. With almost 95 million subscribers, it has amassed more subscribers in just over one year than Disney expected it could reach by 2024.

ServiceTypePercentage Growth (2019)
Disney+VideoNew
Apple TV+VideoNew
Disney+ HotstarVideo516.7%
ESPN+Video475.0%
Starz/StarzPlay/PantayaVideo211.4%
Paramount+Video123.8%
HBO MaxVideo115.0%
Amazon Prime VideoVideo100.0%
Alt BalajiVideo100.0%
YouTube PremiumVideo/Audio100.0%
DAZNVideo100.0%
Eros NowVideo92.6%
Amazon Prime MusicAudio71.9%
Tencent Music (Group)Audio66.8%
New York TimesNews60.5%
SpotifyAudio44.0%
HuluVideo38.6%
ViuVideo38.0%
NetflixVideo34.4%
Tencent VideoVideo27.7%
iQiyiVideo19.0%
Sirius XmAudio17.4%
Apple MusicAudio13.3%
YoukuVideo9.6%
PandoraAudio1.6%
DeezerAudio0%

The Disney+ wave also spurred growth in partner streaming services like Hotstar and ESPN+, while other services with smaller subscriber bases saw large growth rates thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The lingering question is how the landscape will look when the pandemic starts to wind down, and when all the new players are accounted for. NBCUniversal’s Peacock, for example, has reached over 30 million subscribers as of January 2021, but the company hasn’t yet disclosed how many are paid subscribers.

Likewise, competitors are investing in content libraries to try and make up ground on Netflix and Disney. HBO Max is slated to start launching internationally in June 2021, and ViacomCBS rebranded and expanded CBS All Access into Paramount+.

And international growth is vital. Three of the top six video streaming services by subscribers are based in China, while Indian services Hotstar, ALTBalaji, and Eros Now all saw surges in subscriber bases, with more room left to grow.

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Visualizing the Most Valuable Brands in 12 Countries

This graphic visualizes the most valuable brands by country in 12 major economies, from tech and energy giants to automakers and banks.

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Bubble chart of the most valuable brands by country.

Visualizing the Most Valuable Brands by Country

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

At the start of 2024, Apple was found to be the world’s most valuable brand, with a value of $517 billion—a 73.6% increase over the previous year.

It wasn’t the only strong American brand. In fact, U.S. brands made up six of the top 10, and 51 of the top 100 most valuable brands.

But other countries have their own claims within the top 100 brand rankings. Here are the most valuable brands by country in 2024, looking at a dozen different countries from Brand Finance‘s annual rankings.

The Most Valuable Brands in China, India, the UK, and More

First, it’s important to note that this data is related to the value of a brand, specifically, as opposed to more general measures of value such as market cap.

Generally speaking, brand value is calculated by looking at the strength of the brand itself (through investments, equity, and performance), as well as its attributable revenues within a company. For a more detailed breakdown, visit the Brand Finance report directly.

BrandCountryValue (US$)
Apple🇺🇸 United States$517B
Samsung🇰🇷 South Korea$99B
TikTok🇨🇳 China$84B
Deutsche Telekom🇩🇪 Germany$73B
Toyota🇯🇵 Japan$53B
Shell🇬🇧 United Kingdom$50B
Aramco🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia$42B
Accenture🇮🇪 Ireland$41B
Louis Vuitton🇫🇷 France$32B
Tata Group🇮🇳 India$29B
Nestlé🇨🇭 Switzerland$21B
TD🇨🇦 Canada$19B

China may have 20 brands in the top 100, but South Korea’s Samsung trumps it for second place outside of the U.S. with a value of $99 billion.

Overall, Asian brands have attained significant value in recent years. China’s TikTok (along with its domestic counterpart, Douyin) is well known all around the world and had a value of $84 billion, while Japan’s Toyota and Saudi Arabia’s Saudi Aramco had brand values of $53 billion and $42 billion respectively.

Europe’s most valuable brand is Germany’s Deutsche Telekom at $73 billion, while French luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton had a value of $32 billion.

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