Parrot Analytics SVOD platform trend reports reveal which SVOD’s digital original series are appealing most to audiences in a market during these three months, dive deeper into how this looks for the dynamic action and adventure genre and shed light on the overall size of digital original series within the entire market.

The key questions investigated in this report:

1. Are American audiences demanding more linear or more digital content?

2. Which SVOD’s original series are demanded most by American audiences and how is this evolving?

3. In the action and adventure genre, which SVOD’s original series are demanded most by American audiences and how is this evolving?

Are American audiences demanding more linear or digital content?

• In the United States from April to June 2020, 14.0% of all demand is expressed for a digital original series. A far greater proportion, 86.0%, is for a linear series.

• The US demand share for digital original series is several points lower than the world as a whole. Globally, 17.2% of demand is expressed for a digital original series. Although many of the world’s biggest streaming platforms are US-based, they still face strong competition from legacy media companies domestically.

• Digital original titles slightly overperform in this market. They make up 13.5% of series in the market by number, yet account for 14.0% of demand.

Which SVOD’s original series are most in-demand by American audiences?

• Original series from Netflix account for the majority of US digital original demand. From April to June 2020, 53.8% of digital original demand is for a Netflix series.

• As one of the most mature streaming markets, the USA has a higher than average market demand share for originals from platforms outside the five largest.

• Series original to Hulu attract the attention of US audiences well. The Hulu demand share of 8.3% is a full percentage point more than the global share of 7.3%.

The next chart shows how the demand shares for these five platforms have evolved over the past 12 months:

• This chart of demand shares over the past 12 months shows how Disney+ seized a considerable chunk of market but is beginning to lose momentum. June 2020’s 4.7% digital original demand share is down from a 7.9% peak in December 2019.

• Conversely, the Netflix demand share in America has generally been increasing from December 2019’s 12-month low of 50.2%.

• Over the 12 months, the demand share from smaller platforms has been largely stable, except for a 2% increase in November 2019. This was largely due to the launch of Apple TV+ which consistently ranks as the 6th largest demand share in the United States. However, in the most recent 3 months the single most demanded series from this category is CBS All Access’ Star Trek: Picard.

Which SVOD’s Action and Adventure original series are demanded most by American audiences?

• With 35.6%, DC Universe has the largest American demand share for action and adventure digital original series. Here in the platform’s home market, this share is higher than DC Universe’s global share of 32.2%.

• Disney+ has the third largest share in this genre and also overperforms against the global figure, capturing 16.9% of US audience attention against 12.8% worldwide.

• The shares for Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are both affected by the strong results for originals from the above services. Both have smaller shares in the US than their global average.

The next chart shows how the action and adventure demand shares for these five platforms have evolved over the past 12 months:

• Looking back over the past 12 months, the November launch of Disney+ significantly shook up the demand shares in this genre. At its peak in December 2019 when the finale of The Mandalorian was released, Disney+ had 27.8% of US audience attention in this content segment.

• In the most recent 3 months, the DC Universe action and adventure originals share has increased dramatically. Driven by shows like DC’s Stargirl and Doom Patrol, the platform’s share has grown from 29.7% in April to 41.3% in June.

• This DC Universe growth has squeezed the share of all other platforms in the market. This has especially impacted the collected share for series from smaller platforms, which nearly halved from 7.1% to 3.7%.

This report is intended as a high-level overview of the SVOD market in this country. To access more granular platform demand trends for specific platforms, genres, timeframes and more, contact your Parrot Analytics representative.

For more information, check out the most up-to-date United States television industry overview.