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Streaming video scramble

A scrum of streaming video competitors has emerged in the past few years to challenge front-runner Netflix. Specific subscriber data is closely held, but here is the competitive landscape as of mid-2021 according to public sources.

Subscribers to U.S. video streaming services (Q2 2021 or as noted)

CompanyUS & Canada SubscriptionsGlobalBusiness model Notes
NETFLIX74,400,000208,000,000Monthly subscription
DISNEY + (Disney)n.a.103,600,000Monthly subscription
HULU (SVOD only) 
(Disney)
n.a.37,800,000Monthly subscription
HULU (SVOD + live tv)
(Disney)
n.a.3,800,000Monthly subscription
ESPN +
(Disney)
n.a.13,800,000Monthly subscription
HBO and HBO MAX (WarnerMedia)44,200,00063,900,000Monthly subscription
AMAZON PRIME VIDEOn.a.175,000,000*Annual subscription* # who streamed video, out of 200 million global total subs
PEACOCK (NBCUniversal)42,000,000*Monthly subscriptions, also
free, ad-supported version
*”sign-ups”
PARAMOUNT +, SHOWTIME, NOGGIN, BET + (ViacomCBS)n.a.36,000,000Monthly subscription
PLUTO TV (ViacomCBS)n.a.50,000,000Ad supported
STARZ (Lionsgate)n.a.16,700,000*Monthly subscription*streaming, out of 29.5M total
DISCOVERY +n.a.13,000,000Monthly subscriptionMerging soon with WarnerMedia
APPLE TV + (Apple)n.a.33,600,000*Monthly subscription*Ampere Analysis 2019 (cited by The Wall Street Journal)

Sources: CNBC, individual service web pages

Who owns America’s movie screens?

Fade to black: The covid-19 pandemic of 2020 forced extended closure of more than 40,000 movie screens in 5,500 commercial movie theaters in America.  It is a devastating blow to an industry already facing long-term structural competition from stream-at-home movie services. How will the industry sort itself out when theaters re-open? Here are the major players to watch.

AMC Entertainment, since its acquisition of Carmike Cinemas in 2016, owns 8,380 screens in more than 600 U.S. theaters. The company is a subsidiary of Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda, which is owned by Chinese tycoon Wang Jianlin. [ticker: AMC]

Regal Entertainment, a division of the British chain Cineworld,  owns 7,361 screens in the USA

Cinemark Theaters, which also owns Century Theatres and Rave Cinemas, operates 4,518 U.S. screens

Smaller movie exhibition chains include:

Sources: Company reports, via qz.com