Who’s Winning the Streaming Wars: December 2020

We’re watching more television than ever, which has only given Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and the rest of them more reason to compete for our attention. But these platforms are less than open about how many people are watching their content — which begs the question, how do we get a sense of who’s winning the streaming wars? We answer that question by taking a look at the way people are using Watchworthy, our TV recommendation app.

In just 60 seconds, Watchworthy gets to know your specific taste in TV and gives every show a “Worthy Score” — the higher a show’s Worthy Score, the more likely it is that the user will enjoy that show. Over the month of December, we tracked each time a show received a Worthy Score of 80% or higher, then organized all those shows according to network. The resulting analysis allowed us to determine which network’s content is being recommended to the most users, giving us a unique sense of who is winning the Streaming Wars.

One service stands head and shoulders above the rest: 48% of the shows that had Worthy Scores of 80% or higher for Watchworthy users in December are available on Netflix. That’s a 30% larger share than their closest competitor in this category, HBO Max. But while the new streaming service has plenty of ground to cover before they catch up with the industry leader, it’s impressive that HBO Max has been able to surge into second place in front of far more established platforms like Hulu and Amazon Prime.

In third place is Amazon, which was able to edge out Hulu thanks primarily to the continued strength of its original series The Boys, which received Worthy Scores of 80% or higher for 249 users last month. Disney+ is in last place among the major streaming services, despite the fact that it offers this month’s most “Worthy” show: The Mandalorian received high Worthy Scores for a grand total of 571 people.

Which Shows Were Most Worthy?

Since this is Ranker, we’d be remiss not to include a list of the shows Watchworthy recommended most throughout the month of December. Here’s the Top 20, along with the streaming platforms where those shows are available:

1. The Mandalorian — Disney+ — 571 people

2. Euphoria — HBO Max — 347 people

3. The Boys — Amazon Prime Video — 249 people

4. Sex Education — Netflix — 236 people

5. Umbrella Academy — Netflix — 231 people

6. Stranger Things — Netflix — 227 people

7. South Park — HBO Max — 214 people

8. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina — Netflix — 177 people

9. Family Guy — Hulu — 156 people

10. Vampire Diaries — Netflix — 155 people

Want to learn more about how we built a TV recommendation engine using Ranker Insights data? We tell the whole story in our Watchworthy white paper, which you can download here for free.

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