Video Streaming Coverage Race: May 2019 Results

May was a relatively quiet month for media coverage in the video streaming race. The March/April hoopla surrounding Apple TV+ and Disney+ announcements dissipated, and the pace of press coverage slowed to a trot. Media mentions for Hulu was an exception.

We analyzed the press coverage that seven horses in this race (Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Disney+, Hulu, Netflix, WarnerMedia, and YouTube) received during the month of May. To do so, we considered the 712 articles on Dow Jones/Factiva during May in which the words video and streaming appeared adjacent to each other. (Factiva is a global news resource with over 32,000 publications.)

Here's what we found:

Total mentions of these seven "horses" slowed to 1930 in May from 3533 in April. Netflix continued to lead the field in May with 724 mentions (considerably less than the 1614 it received in April). Hulu followed closely behind with 672, driven by Disney's May 14 announcement that it would assume full operational control of Hulu as a result of a deal with Comcast.

Here's what mention market shares looked like in April and in May:

We expect to see the pace of media coverage pick up as new services prepare to launch later this year.