Streaming apps continue to grow relentlessly, but not all at the same pace: one is set to overtake Netflix, which is now a leader.
Are the subscriptions to the app for streaming? A few years from now, they will skyrocket, with dizzying numbers. This is said by the research company Digital TV Research which, with the new October report, has made it clear what the results will be to think about between now and 2026. Who will rank first in the ranking? All that remains is to find out.
The document published by the company proposes a complete plan at a global level, also reporting the estimates of the spread of subscriptions to streaming services. More and more present, thanks also to the space of ultra-fast connections to the internet, platforms are rapidly establishing themselves, alongside if not even in some cases surpassing the pay-TV that until recently reigned undisturbed on the television scene.
To this, then, must be added the possibility of using the apps even on the move, from small but performing devices. All excellent conditions that over the 2021-2026 period will lead to a record number of 1.64 billion subscriptions; as many as 49% of it will be distributed between the US and China, slightly down from 56% in 2021.
Streaming Apps, Which Are The Most Used
According to what is stated in the report by Digital TV Research, in 2026, there will be mainly three subscription services with periodic fees that will control almost half of the active subscriptions globally. In the first place, there will be Disney + which, with 284 million subscribers of which 140 added only in the period 2021-2026, will take the position that Netflix has jealously guarded.
With 43% of total subscriptions, or approximately 121 million, registered exclusively in Asia under the Hotstar brand, Disney’s platform will be at the center of high-level growth. Numbers of this kind are difficult to beat, even in light of the 53 million customers that Netflix will be able to add to the current number in the same period, a figure that will not be able to take the company beyond the second step of the podium.
Firmly in the third position is Amazon Prime: 243.4 million users will access films, TV series, and programs created by the e-shopping giant in 2026. Followed by HBO with 76.3 million users and Apple TV, 35.6 million; like the previous three, the last two belonging to the top quintet are also based in the United States of America.
Streaming App, A glimpse Into Europe
If the nation with the most subscribers is currently the United Kingdom in the Old Continent, in 2025, it will be ousted by Germany, which will accumulate 52 million subscriptions. And Italy? Just off the podium, in fourth place, our country will reach and exceed 23 million subscriptions, above Spain but behind the bronze medal that will rightfully go to France.
In Europe, the ranking will remain essentially unchanged, with the importance in the hands of Netflix, and its 67 million subscribers, followed by Amazon Prime Video and Disney + (53 million, double compared to today). Noteworthy, although far from the results of the previous ones, will be HBO Max; to limit its impact, agreements with other TV operators that already broadcast the contents of the channel within their schedules.
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