There are now more subscriptions to video streaming services—including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, HBO Max and Disney+—than there are people in the USA. According to Ampere Markets–Operators data, there are now nearly 340m subscription OTT contracts in the USA, more than the population of 330m. The pandemic and stay-at-home measures, the launch of new studio-backed subscription services, and increased rates of service stacking all contributed to the market reaching this milestone in Q1 of this year.

In 2020, pay TV penetration in the USA dropped below 60% for the first time, down from more than 80% at the beginning of 2015, with consumers increasingly shifting to SVoD services. Ampere’s latest wave of Consumer data showed that over one quarter of US Internet users now report using five or more SVoD services. On top of this, 57% of US Internet users say that SVoD services are the main way they watch TV and film. 

More streaming services such as Peacock and HBO Max entered the US market in 2020, and as consumers shift away from pay TV, service stacking continues to grow as consumers curate their own content portfolios, leading the overall number of subscriptions to overtake the number of people in Q1 2021. With the more recent launch of services such as Paramount+ and Discovery+, SVoD stacking in the US is set to grow even further in 2021.