Netflix [NASDAQ: NFLX] has been launching new content features to try and subscribers to spend more of their entertainment hours inside of Netflix. As many have pointed out, social media and streaming video products are all converging and starting to look the same. YouTube [NASDAQ: GOOG] was ahead of the curve when it came to hosting podcasts, something Netflix just launched at the beginning of this calendar year. As these features (podcasts, clips, shorts) have launched, YouTube has noticed and taken action. It was reported YouTube is now paying creators handsomely not to work with Netflix.
The above image shows YouTube viewers are increasingly skipping out on Netflix. This data is from Apptopia’s US consumer device panel. It is observed behavior. In August, about 92% of Netflix users were also users of YouTube while only about 16% of YouTube users were also users of Netflix.
YouTube and other top social media apps [Americans’ Social App Usage Is Up. Its Share of Screen Is not.] are not the only threats Netflix faces. I also ran a cross app overlap analysis with top ‘micro drama’ apps. These are streaming platforms featuring vertical, bite-sized video series that have been all over the top of daily US App Store charts. Cross app overlap between Netflix and the top micro drama apps has averaged a month-over-month growth rate of 21% this calendar year.
In the US, our panel shows Netflix’s user Churn is suffering a bit compared to last year. It’s been up an average of 10.4% year-over-year. Still, Average Time Spent per DAU is continuing to increase for some cohorts.
