A bounty of originals help make Netflix far more popular than its rivals, study finds

By Lulu Chang February 2, 2017

Image used with permission by copyright holder

There’s a reason the phrase is “Netflix and chill.” While the streaming service may have competitors in the form of Hulu and Amazon, when it comes to content, Netflix is king. That claim is backed up by a recent study by Parrot Analytics, which found that Netflix originals are eight times more popular than those from Amazon and nine times more popular than those from Hulu. Though Netflix is notoriously protective of its viewer data, some interesting numbers have emerged.

In conducting its study, Parrot Analytics examined “cross-platform, country-specific measurements of video streaming, social media activity, photo sharing, blogging, commenting on fan and critic rating platforms,” and downloading and streaming by way of peer-to-peer protocols and file-sharing sites, Fierce Cable explained. And it would appear that Netflix’s secret to success is sheer volume — with more than 50 original titles to its name, it’s no wonder that some of them are blockbusters.

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“Netflix’s veteran titles still attract significant amounts of demand, such as the peak in March (weeks 9-13) from the fourth season of House of Cards and the second season of Marvel’s Daredevil,” Parrot Analytics wrote in a report. “However, Netflix’s true strength is in its constant production and release of new, buzzy content.” Citing the gargantuan success after the premiere of Stranger Things in week 28, the analytics firm noted that Netflix’s popularity reached new heights. “Other new hits such as Marvel’s Luke Cage in week 39 and The OA in week 50 continued to build on this popularity, leading Netflix to end the year with over 2.7 times more demand than the other three platforms combined,” Parrot concluded.

The volume of Netflix’s output also helps to bring in subscribers and increase its stock price, Parrot noted. Indeed, this is something that Netflix itself has corroborated — last quarter, the company brought in 7 million new subscribers and saw its stock price increase 8.4 percent in after-hours trading. Netflix attributed this growth to its popular catalog.

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