According to the most recent data, 83 percent of consumers in the United States were using a subscription video-on-demand service in 2023, an increase of over 10 percentage points in five years. It is no secret that one of the most popular platforms (and certainly the one with the most U.S. subscribers) is Netflix. The number of Netflix streaming subscribers in the United States and Canada passed the 70 million mark for the first time in early 2020.

Netflix as the most used video streaming service in the U.S. To say Netflix has the monopoly on the U.S. streaming market would be an understatement, and with a wealth of original content appearing all the time, Netflix’s appeal is built to last. Data shows that Netflix has more viewers than Hulu and Amazon in the U.S., leaving services such as Disney+, Apple TV+, and ESPN+ trailing far behind. How to satisfy subscribers? However, the threat of new competitors could cause Netflix's subscriber base to dwindle if video consumers decide to go elsewhere. Upcoming services ranging from the long anticipated Disney+ to Warner Bros. Discovery's HBO Max and Discovery+ will likely draw some customers away from Netflix by virtue of what they can offer, and as new services enter the market, they will likely reclaim their own. Additionally, recent price increases in light of an upcoming recession led to losses in Netflix's subscriber numbers in the first half of 2022.

A Rakuten Insight survey on video streaming platforms and consumer behavior conducted in 2024 indicated that over 70 percent respondents in India who subscribed to video streaming services were aged between 25 and 44 years old. The age group with the largest number of respondents not having a video streaming subscription was individuals aged above 55 years.

Data from the second quarter of 2022 found that the global time spent viewing content on streaming serivces increased by 14 percent compared with the same period of the previous year. The growth in streaming viewing time differed considerably from region to region. Some regional markets, such as Asia and LATAM, still appear to have massive growth potential. In contrast, North American's viewing time nearly stagnated.

Worldwide, 91.7 percent of internet users watched content via streaming services each month as of the third quarter of 2023. People from the South Africa were using video streaming platforms the most, with 98 percent of respondents to the survey stating to stream every month. Chile came second, with 97 percent of people watching TV content on streaming platforms, followed by Mexico. By comparison, only 76.1 percent of consumers from Russia indicated to use video streaming services, such as Netflix, on a monthly basis.

The most widely used paid video streaming platform in the United States was Netflix. A 2024 survey found that the majority of Netflix subscribers were found in the 18 to 34 age group, with 70 percent of respondents paying for the service. Hulu and Amazon Prime Video were the second and third most used paid video streaming platforms in this age group.

As of the third quarter of 2023, 44.2 percent of the overall time spent watching TV was invested on watching content via streaming services worldwide. In the past years, this share steadily increased. By comparison, it amounted to 31.5 percent five years earlier.

As of 2025, the free ad-supported streaming TV service Tubi was considered to have the best value among selected video streaming services for U.S. consumers, with 40 percent of respondents to a survey saying they felt it had the best value. The second-best value platform according to respondents was The Roku Channel, followed by Pluto TV, all freely available streaming services.

Data from the second quarter of 2022 found that the smart TV is the most used device for viewing streaming content worldwide, with 35.3 percent of the total viewing time. This is true especially for LATAM, where even 43.3 percent of the viewing time is spent on this device. Yet, Asian people, who had by far the lowest rate of smart TV viewing time of all regions, rather preferred watching streaming content on their mobile phones.

According to a survey conducted in March 2024, 12 percent of U.S. adults aged 18 to 34 reported that they watched live stream videos several times a day. However, 17 percent of U.S. adults aged 35 to 54 reported that they never watched live stream videos. Only 13 percent of U.S. adults 55 and older watched live stream videos several times a day.

Going live: meet the streamers In May 2024, American YouTuber and gamer KaiCenat was the leading Twitch streamer worldwide – with 19.5 million hours watched in the previous 30 days. As in the case of their audiences, most live streamers topping the ranking were men as of February 2022: less than one in 10 of the leading streamers on Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook gaming was a woman. Rivers_gg was the leading female streamer on Twitch, with 8.88 million hours between January and May 2023, while Texas-based Amouranth ranked fourth with 6.44 million hours watched by global users in the first months of 2023. The streamer made news when she decided to join Kick exclusively, becoming the platform’s leading female streamer in July 2023 with around 500 thousand hours watched during the month.

Kick positioning Kick is a live streaming platform launched at the end of 2022 to compete with market leader YouTube Gaming and Amazon-backed Twitch. In the first quarter of 2023, Kick slid into the ranking of the most popular global live streaming platforms, with over 58 million hours watched by global users. While the number remains less significant when compared to the eight billion hours watched generated by YouTube, as well as the five billion hours watched cranked up by Twitch, Kick has been aggressively marketing itself as a creators’ hub in order to attract more creative talents. In mid-August 2023, the company announced the opening of their first Creator Incentive program, designed to boost emerging streamers’ popularity and increase the platform’s visibility.

According to a March 2024 survey of users in the United States, 79 percent of respondents aged 18 to 34 years used their smartphones to watch online video content weekly. By comparison, only around two in 10 respondents of the same age group reported using their tablet devices for the same activity. Connected TVs were particularly popular for the online video audience aged 35 and older, while smartphones were less popular among users aged 55 years and older.

According to a survey conducted in 2023, it has been found that ad-free streaming services were the most favored type of streaming and TV subscriptions among all age groups in the United States, except for the oldest surveyed group. For example, over half of respondents aged 18 to 34 years paid for video streaming services with no ads, while this was the case for 21 percent of people aged 55 years and older. The older the respondents were the more likely they were subscribing to pay TV services.

In the first quarter of 2024, Netflix and YouTube were the most popular video streaming apps in the U.S., with 64 percent and 57 percent of households using them. Other notable services, including Peacock, Disney+, and Paramount+, reached less than 30 percent of American households.

In 2023, digital video consumption surpassed TV viewing time for the second time in the United States. Additionally, the forecast shows that streaming video on connected TV, mobile devices, and computers will continue to increase, reaching a viewing time of over three hours and 30 minutes in 2028. Meanwhile, traditional TV consumption is likely to further decline in the upcoming years.

According to a survey conducted in Japan in January 2024, almost 12 percent of the respondents watched the live video streaming service YouTube Live. YouTube Live was the most commonly watched service in this category, followed by Instagram Live and TikTok Live.

The most popular video streaming service as of September 2019 was YouTube, with 163.75 million monthly active users. Netflix ranked second with 46.55 million MAU, followed by Hulu with just under 26.5 million.

As of September 2019, YouTube was the most popular video streaming service, with a mobile reach of 88 percent, whereas Netflix had a reach of 25 percent. Whilst Netflix's reach was far lower than YouTube's, when it came to SVoD platforms Netflix led by a long way, with more than double the mobile reach of Amazon Prime Video.

As of late 2023, watching subscription-based streaming platform dominated across all regions, with users spending significantly more hours than on free with ads platforms. Consumers in the Asia-Pacific region spent the most time on SVOD services at 20 hours per week, while viewers in the EMEA region spent the lowest amount of time with these platforms. On the other hand, free ad-supported streaming platforms show relatively lower engagement, with the United States and Canada, as well as the Asia-Pacific region seeing the highest usage time, reaching 10 hours per week.

Among selected countries worldwide, Sweden accounted for the highest time spent on paid video streaming services than other regions. The 2024 Global Streaming Study revealed that over two thirds of the video streaming viewing time in Sweden was allocated to subscription-based options. In contrast, Chinese and Japanese viewers opt for free online services, with 39 and 48 percent of the viewing time went to platforms, such as YouTube. Transactional video-on-demand services and unofficial websites were the least popular options in all regions.

The graph presents the annual subscription revenue of selected subscription video streaming services in the United States in 2018. Amazon Video, which shows original series such as "The Grand Tour" and "The Man in the High Castle", generated subscription revenue of over 2.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2018.

In recent years, video has become one of the most popular online formats, spanning from educational content to product reviews. During the third quarter of 2024, music videos recorded the highest category reach, with almost half of internet users worldwide reporting to watch music videos online each week. Social video engagement In recent years, YouTube and TikTok have become two of the most important social media platforms for global users, as video content commands high levels of engagement. In 2024, users worldwide spent approximately 28.4 hours using the YouTube mobile app per month. Additionally, the leading hashtags used by content creators on TikTok have amassed billions of views: as of January 2024, the TikTok hashtag “fyp” or “for you page” had reached 55 and 35 billion post views, respectively. Watching content: what device do users prefer? In 2023, televisions were the most used devices for global viewers to watch video-on-demand (VOD), with 55 percent of respondents reporting using these devices. In comparison, 13 percent of respondents reported using smartphones. Age group and generation are factors impacting viewership habits and device preferences, as younger users appear to prefer using their smartphones to consume content. According to a March 2024 survey, U.S. users aged 18-34 years were more likely to watch video content on smartphones than any other devices. By comparison, connected TVs were particularly popular for the online video audience aged 35 and older.