Why Did Netflix, Disney Apps Download Rates Take A Big Hit In March?

Over-the-top streaming stocks have been huge in the past year as a social distancing and shelter-in-home environment drove a sharp rise in subscriber growth and engagement. But, the latest batch of monthly app download data highlights just how difficult year-over-year comps will be for popular streaming services from this point forward.

Impressive Growth: On Monday, Bank of America analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich discussed the latest batch of monthly download data for 29 different streaming video and music services, including popular names like Netflix Inc NFLX, Walt Disney Co DIS and Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN.

Reif Ehrlich said year-over-year streaming app downloads were down nearly across the board in March, but some apps were hit harder than others. Overall, she said streaming services are still witnessing robust growth, even if growth rates are down from pandemic highs.

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The Numbers: Bank of America reported 15.9 million Netflix app downloads in March, down 45% from a year ago. Disney reportedly had 14.3 million Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ app downloads in March, down 19% from a year ago. Amazon’s Amazon Prime and Amazon Music had 15.9 million downloads in March, down just 10% compared to a year ago.

“Additionally, Star launched on Feb. 23rd, in Western Europe, CAN, NZ, AUS and Singapore as a combined offering with Disney+ (with corresponding price increases of ~$2-$3/mo.) and Disney+ U.S. prices increased to $7.99 on 3/26,” Reif Ehrlich said.

The Disney+ price hike in late March will make April download data particularly important for Disney investors.

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In the streaming music space, Reif Ehrlich said Amazon Music had the smallest year-over-year drop in downloads at just 3%. Spotify Technology SA SPOT downloads were down just 4% from a year ago, while downloads of Sirius XM Holdings Inc SIRI subsidiary Pandora dropped 31% year-over-year.

Benzinga’s Take: Investors can’t expect streaming music and video download rates in 2021 to keep pace with 2020 rates when everyone was stuck at home with nothing to do but watch videos and listen to music. However, comparing just how sharp the year-over-year drops are among the market leaders is a good indication of which companies are gaining market share and which ones are losing ground.

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