THE ENTIRE WORLD IS WATCHING: WHY 2020 IS THE YEAR OF STREAMING

Although Netflix still is the indisputable king of global streaming, Disney+ could have had a bigger impact in the United States, according to Braze and Apptopia, which partenered to analyze eight months of data and discover how the launch of Disney’s OTT affected competitors in the streaming space, what customer engagement best practices drove the most success, and what changes has Covid-19 already made to the industry.

“Although we don’t yet know what future historians will write about this year, one thing’s for certain: 2020 is the year of streaming. Between the success of Disney+, the arrival of new competitors (like HBO Now, Peacock, and Quibi), and a mass stay-at-home movement brought on by Covid-19, consumers have more reason than ever to put on their PJs and binge-watch everything in their queue,”  the report says.

According to the findings, Netflix was the most downloaded streaming app globally, with 59.1 million downloads, followed by YouTube at 39.4 million. Disney+ (which is currently launching across Europe and India) was number seven on the list, with 17.5 million downloads.

In the United States, however, Disney+ leads with 14.1 million downloads, versus 11.9 million for Netflix (which may have already saturated the local market) and 8.1 million for Hulu (which is also owned primarily by Disney).

The report suggests that the success of Disney+ means that there’s still room for new streaming services. It might, however, simply reflect Disney’s dominance of the entertainment world. It remains to be seen whether Quibi, NBCUniversal’s Peacock and WarnerMedia’s HBO Max can achieve similar success as they launch in the coming months.

Nevertheless, although it seems like a one-on-one contest between Netflix and Disney, in terms of time spent in-app, the winner of the period studied was YouTube Kids, that wins in both the United States and globally.

Regarding the current world crisis due to the pandemic of the coronavirus, the findings were quite obvious: the Covid-19 pandemic is leading to even more streaming, with the report showing a 30.7% increase in streaming sessions in March.

The study also looks at strategies that successfully drive engagement, as measured by daily active users. It points out that the most popular brands are 21% more likely to send push notifications and 300% more likely to send in-app messages. That is why it concludes that “content that creates fandom is king”.

“Looking ahead to the rest of 2020, customers are going to be presented with more streaming options than ever before. To stay relevant and binge-worthy, it’s critical for new and existing streaming services to use customer engagement strategies that create personalized experiences and provide value to every customer,”  the report finalizes.