Despite feeling overwhelmed by the growing number of streaming platforms, Americans continue to subscribe, and a new survey reveals the most popular choices among middle-income levels compared to others.
What Happened: Even as consumer face financial pressure to reduce spending on streaming subscriptions or switch to more affordable, ad-supported plans, leading streaming companies like Netflix and Disney continue to experience subscriber growth.
The leading streaming companies are thriving, with Netflix Inc NFLX gaining 9.33 million paid net new subscribers in the first quarter to bring the company to a total of 269.60 million. The Walt Disney Company DIS added 6.3 million Disney+ Core subscribers in the second quarter to bring the company to a total of 117.6 million.
Other streaming companies are also seeing growth of their subscribers and operating income for their direct-to-consumer segments.
A survey from Morning Consult shows that Netflix was the streaming company most likely to be used across three income levels of <$50,000, $50,000 to $99,999, and >$100,000.
Netflix was selected by 71% of the respondents in the $50,000 to $99,999 income level as a platform that they use, compared to 77% of the higher income earners and 62% of the low-income earners.
Hulu ranked second for middle income Americans at 53%. The platform is majority owned by Disney, which also had the third ranked streaming platform with Disney+ used by 47% of middle-income earners.
Peacock ranked fourth at 45% usage by middle-income earners. The streaming platform from Comcast Corporation CMCSA almost saw more middle-income American usage than high-income earners (46%).
Roku Inc ROKU was selected by 43% of middle-income earners, which was higher than the 40% of high-income earners who said they use the platform. Low-income earners had the highest percentage for the streaming platform at 47%.
Spotify Technology SPOT was selected by 42% of middle-income earners, beating out rival music streaming platform Pandora (35%), which is owned by Sirius XM Holdings SIRI.
AppleTV+ from Apple Inc AAPL ranked lower at 26% for middle-income earners and had wide gaps between low-income earners (18%) and high-income earners (37%).
Related Link: Disney Direct-To-Consumer Segment Profits In Q2, ‘Operating Income Modestly Ahead’ Of Analyst Expectations
Why It's Important: The survey shows that people are more likely to have more streaming platforms if they earn more, which shouldn't be a surprise.
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the survey is the gaps for several platforms across income levels. For instance, Netflix shows a 15 percentage point difference in usage between low and high-income earners.
Hulu’s gap is narrower, at seven percentage points. Peacock displays the smallest discrepancy, with only a four percentage point gap and consistent usage across all income groups.
Roku was also a surprise in the survey, as the platform is more likely to be used with lower income earners than with higher income earners.
AppleTV+ had one of the widest gaps, with a 19-point gap from low-income to high-income earners. This could suggest that when it comes to picking a streaming platform, lower-income consumers would rather spend their money on other platforms. This could be perhaps due to Apple having a smaller content library and being one of the newer streaming platforms.
To help offset concerns of too many platforms and prices, several media companies are teaming up to offer bundles of streaming platforms. Warner Bros. Discovery WBD is teaming up with Disney to offer a bundle of Max, Hulu and Disney+.
Photo: Shutterstock
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