Netflix Leads U.S. Market, But Viewer Share is Shinking

Netflix continues to be the most popular video streaming service in the U.S., but as more providers are crowding the market, the share of Americans saying they used Netflix streaming in the past 12 months has decreased over time. This is according to surveys by Statista Consumer Insights.

In 2019, 82 percent of Americans still said they paid for Netflix in the past year, compared to 65 percent most recently. In 2023, at the height of the streaming wars, Netflix and competitor Amazon Prime Video went head-to-head, but the streaming pioneer eventually defended its position as market leader during the last couple of years that have been marked by global expansion, prices that rose for premium accounts as well as fell for ever-more-popular ad-supported tiers, changes to content strategy as well as layoffs and leadership reshuffles.

While Netflix's revenue growth has slowed as a reliance on ad income has clashed with low engagement among subscribers, operating margins have become much more solid while subscriber numbers continue to growth healthily outside the U.S. in Netflix's newer markets.

Netflix's biggest competitors also have slightly fewer user in the U.S. now than in 2019, showing how a new tide of smaller paid services from Paramount+ and Peacock to Apple TV+ as well as free offerings like Tubi and YouTube are taking away market shares.