In the mid-2000s, improvements to data speeds and broadband costs led to an explosion of first generation video streaming services. A group of ex-PayPal employees founded YouTube in 2005. Seeing the success of it, DVD rental company Netflix scrapped its planned streaming device and launched an internet-based streaming service instead.
Only a year after the launch of YouTube, Google acquired it for $1.65 billion. At the time, it was seen as an extravagant purchase, for a nascent technology which hadn’t generated any meaningful revenue. But, for Netflix and Amazon, it was confirmation that this market was set for spectacular growth in the next decade. Amazon launched Prime Video in 2006 and across the pond, the BBC launched iPlayer in 2007. All of the inaugural players were active.
In China, the earliest platforms had already begun operations before YouTube. Youku and Todou, the original pioneers of video streaming, launched in 2003 and 2005, respectively. It would be five years before Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu took an interest in the market. Baidu launched iQiyi in 2010, which was the first foray into premium video streaming in China. Tencent Video came shortly afterwards, although until 2013 both were primarily focused on free, user generated content.
A major turning point in video streaming came in 2013, when Netflix debuted House of Cards, its first original series. Until then, Netflix, Amazon and other streaming services spent almost all their content budget acquiring older TV shows and movies, which had already been released on television or in the cinema. With this move, Netflix altered the power dynamics by showing it could create quality content that millions would watch. In the next few years, it would launch some of the most popular TV shows of the decade, including Orange is the New Black, Stranger Things and Narcos.
Amazon followed suit in 2015, with the launch of The Man in the High Castle and Mr. Robot. Even Hulu, a streaming service owned by the four big US media corporations as a way to combat Netflix’s success, began publishing its own shows. By 2022, a significant portion of each video streaming services content spend was on original content.
Film and TV studios have not remained static over the past decade. Warner Bros, NBC Universal, CBS and Disney have all launched streaming services to compete with Netflix. In the UK, ITV and Channel 4 have launched streaming apps.
User generated content underwent a huge change with the growth of TikTok during the pandemic, pushing YouTube, Instagram and others to replicate the short-form video style to their audience. Bytedance is one of the new wave technology companies in China, competing with the old guard of Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent. It operates Douyin, a Chinese version of TikTok, and Xigua Video.
We have collected data and statistics on the video streaming app market. Read on below to find out more. If you want even more insights on the video streaming app industry, check out our report.
Key Video Streaming App Statistics
- Revenue for the entire video streaming app industry reached $199 billion in 2023
- YouTube is the most popular free video streaming app in the US
- Amazon Prime Video and Netflix are tied in terms of market share in the US, according to JustWatch
- In the UK, YouTube is the most popular app, with TikTok not far behind
- China’s most popular video streaming platform is Tencent Video, with 900 million users
Want to learn more about the video streaming app industry? In our Video Streaming App report, we cover financials, forecasts, usage, downloads, demographics and benchmarking data.
Video Streaming App Report
Top Video Streaming Apps
| Title 1 | Title 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| https://www.businessofapps.com/data/youtube-statistics/ | YouTube | The most popular video streaming service in the world, with over two billion active users. Has a Premium offering which removes ads |
| https://www.businessofapps.com/data/netflix-statistics/ | Netflix | Netflix is the largest paid-for video streaming service in the world, with 195 million subscribers and a $17 billion annual content spend |
| https://www.businessofapps.com/data/amazon-statistics/ | Amazon Prime Video | One of the many perks of an Amazon Prime subscription, which has become a force in its own right with hundreds of original |
| https://www.businessofapps.com/data/disney-plus-statistics/ | Disney+ | Launched in November 2019, Disney+ is already a global force in the video streaming market, with over 70 million subscribers worldwide |
| https://www.businessofapps.com/data/apple-statistics/ | Apple TV+ | Apple has the deepest pockets of any company in the world, and is expected to shell out billions to make Apple TV+ a popular service |
| https://www.businessofapps.com/data/hulu-statistics/ | Hulu | Hulu has a wide range of US television series, alongside a growing library of original content. It is owned by Disney |
| https://www.businessofapps.com/data/twitch-statistics/ | Twitch | The most popular streaming service for video gaming, owned by Amazon. Twitch has over 150 million active users |
| https://www.businessofapps.com/data/hbo-max-statistics/ | HBO Max | HBO Max is the latest video streaming service for HBO content. It also includes films and TV shows from Warner Media |
| https://www.peacocktv.com/ | Peacock | NBC Universal's attempt to compete with Netflix. The network holds the rights to popular series Parks and Recreation and The Office |
| https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer | BBC iPlayer | The premier streaming service for UK television programmes, including Doctor Who, Sherlock and Planet Earth |
| https://www.itv.com/hub/itv | ITV Hub | The other half of British TV programming, responsible for hit TV shows Love Island, Downtown Abbey and Broadchurch |
| https://tencent-video.en.uptodown.com/android/download | Tencent Video | China's most popular video streaming service in usage and subscribers, broadcasts content from the BBC |
| https://www.iq.com/download?lang=en_us | iQiyi | Baidu's video streaming service, the first to sign licensing agreements with Western production companies, including Netflix |
| https://youku.com/ | Youku | The original video streaming service in China, somewhat overshadowed by Tencent and Baidu's move to premium content |
| https://www.hotstar.com/ | Hotstar | India's most popular video streaming service with over 300 million active users, acquired by Disney in 2020 |
| https://www.douyu.com/client | DouYu | China's video game streaming industry is booming and DouYu is the most popular service, with over 170 million active users |
Video Streaming App Revenue
The video streaming industry generated $199 billion in 2023. This includes free video streaming apps, such as YouTube and TikTok.
Video streaming app market size 2018 to 2023 ($bn)
US Video Streaming App Market Share
Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have been battling it out for first position for two years.
US video streaming app market share 2021 to 2024 (%)
Game Streaming Hours Watched
Twitch is the lead platform for gaming content, far ahead of YouTube Gaming and Facebook Gaming in terms of concurrent viewers.
Game streaming hours watched 2019 to 2024 (bn)
US Video Streaming App Usage
The two free platforms, YouTube and TikTok, lead the pack in total users. Amazon Prime Video has the most total users out of the subscription apps.
US video streaming app usage 2023 (mm)
UK Video Streaming App Usage
YouTube is ahead in the UK as well, although the gap between YouTube and other services is smaller.
UK video streaming usage 2023 (mm)
China Video Streaming App Usage
Tencent Video is by far the most popular video streaming platform in China, with free and premium content available on the platform. Douyin is the fastest growing service, which is China’s TikTok.
China video streaming app usage 2023 (mm)
More Video App Data
- Twitch Revenue and Usage Statistics (2024)
- Max Revenue and Usage Statistics (2024)
- Amazon Prime Video Revenue and Usage Statistics (2024)
- Hulu Revenue and Usage Statistics (2024)
- Netflix Revenue and Usage Statistics (2024)
- TikTok Revenue and Usage Statistics (2024)
- Disney Plus Revenue and Usage Statistics (2024)
- YouTube Revenue and Usage Statistics (2024)
