For 2019 we compared the genre demand shares for all shows with the demand shares for digital original series. The differences reveal which genres digital originals have excelled in so far and which genres are potentially under-saturated opportunities.
We can see that the digital original demand share for drama is greater than the demand share overall. In 2019, drama series accounted for 50.8% of demand for all digital originals but only 42.3% of overall demand for the year. Similarly, action & adventure has a 6.3% greater demand share of digital originals than it does overall. We know that digital originals have performed well in these genres. Multiple streaming platforms have been competing for attention in the action & adventure genre this year. Disney+ launched with The Mandalorian as its headline series; platforms like DC Universe are entirely focused in this space; Major players like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video released very popular action & adventure shows in 2019 (e.g. The Witcher and The Boys respectively).
On the other end of the spectrum, the demand share for digital original reality series is well below the overall demand share for this genre. Reality series have been a mainstay of linear TV but streaming services have not embraced them to the same extent yet. This genre could be an expansion opportunity for digital original series. In fact, we are seeing Netflix experiment with this genre and have success with series such as The Circle and Love is Blind.
