• Research: Three-Quarters of Netflix’s Top 20 Most Popular Shows are Originals

    It’s been just 6 1/2 years since Netflix debuted its breakout original series “House of Cards” and new research from MoffettNathanson and HarrisX show just how much progress the company has made since: 15 out of the top 19 most popular TV shows are now original, with the remaining 4 acquired (the research credits “movies” as the 3rd most popular).

    The most popular show is “Orange is the New Black” followed by “Stranger Things.” #4 is "Ozak" and #5 "Grace and Frankie." Of the acquired shows, “The Office” (which is moving to NBCU’s streaming service) is #9, while “Friends” (which is moving to WarnerMedia’s streaming service) is #10. “Supernatural” (#12) and “Breaking Bad” (#20) are the only other acquired shows in the top 20. Somewhat surprisingly, originals accounted for 13 of the top 19 shows on Amazon Prime Video (movies were #6). For Hulu, just 5 of its top 19 were original, with the majority of acquired shows coming from Disney/Fox (movies were #10).

    The dominance of original shows underscores how Netflix’s multibillion dollar, years-long investments in programming are paying off. No wonder a recent NY Times article called Netflix's office "the town hall of Hollywood." Other data from the MN research add to the picture of Netflix’s strength in SVOD. Across all age categories, approximately 75% of respondents said they use Netflix (a high of 80% for 25-29 year-olds and a low of 66% for 55+ year-olds). By comparison, Hulu’s highest usage is 51% (by 18-24 year-olds) and Amazon Prime Video’s peak usage is 49% (by 55+ year-olds).

    And 77% of Netflix users said they used the service either daily or a few times per week. Hulu closely followed with 76%, while Prime Video lagged with 60% daily or a few times per week. Part of Netflix’s popularity is undoubtedly the persistence of password sharing. The research found that 14% of Netflix viewers use someone’s password from outside their household (compared to 11% for Hulu and just 6% for Prime Video). It’s worth nothing an earlier MN survey also showed that 70% of Netflix subscribers would be willing to pay more for the service.

    The MN-HarrisX poll was taken with 11,135 streaming viewers in May and June, 2019.

    Netflix will report its Q2 ’19 earnings on Wednesday afternoon.