Surprising no one, Netflix currently sits atop the number one spot for streaming services in the United States. The news comes off the recently released study by Parks Associates to find out the top 10 streaming services in the US by subscriber base for 2016.
- Netflix
- Amazon Video (Amazon Prime)
- Hulu
- MLB.TV
- WWE Network
- Sling TV
- HBO Now
- Crunchyroll
- Showtime
- CBS All Access
Flanked by Amazon Video at number two, the study showed that Netflix will actually have some stiff competition for next year. Each of the sequential streaming services has increased their subscriber base over the past year.
While the competitors may be improving, the king of streaming services is doing anything but resting on their laurels, as the company recently proposed an $800 million debt offering to put towards new content. No doubt that a fair portion of that money will be going to the production of Netflix originals, as their CEO Ted Sarandos stated that the company wants to move to having about 50 percent of its catalog being original content.
The statement is interesting considering recent reports that the Netflix library has shrunk by around 50 percent, with more original content taking the place of nonoriginal content daily. Of the content that is available, many of the shows and movies are either not socially relevant, or are just plain bad.
Once the funds are raised, the $800 million will bring the company’s total debt to approximately $3 Billion, a staggering amount, even for large companies. With the spend money to make money mantra Netflix not only hopes to succeed but has goals of rivaling HBO’s original programming stating “The goal is to become HBO faster than HBO can become us.”
While some fans may worry that the streaming service is straying too far from its original path, popularity surrounding the Netflix originals, and the subscriber count, supports the current direction that the streaming service seems to be headed.
