HITS

The combination of two simultaneous labor stoppages halting content productions and major suppliers initiating significant cutbacks in the amount of content being made defined most of Hollywood’s 2023. What didn’t get cut back though: consumer appetite for streaming content.

That’s the takeaway from Reelgood’s 2023 end of year report which saw both streamers and consumers turn to legacy content and international fare to fill the void caused by a lack of new productions.

“All the while, the distribution of content became a bit destabilized, as entertainment companies reprioritized the growth of their own platforms while re-embarking on aggressive distribution to third-party platforms, including Netflix,” the report reads.

The report notes that despite the loss of more than 300 NBCUniversal titles, Hulu still grew the most in terms of number of titles available, nearly doubling year over year, and leading the way among all streamers, with Peacock second (plus 45 percent year over year, and Apple TV+ third (plus 34 percent year over year). The only major streamer that didn’t grow its title count was Paramount+, with a more than 28 percent reduction in titles.

The lack of new content was evidenced on Reelgood’s platform: through October, more than 50 percent of movie interactions and 35 percent of TV show engagements were for titles that were at least eight years old.

Breaking down available titles by genre, drama by far led the way in terms of what streamers made available for all but two: Disney+ had more action and adventure titles, with drama second, and Apple TV+ had more romance, with drama also second.

To access the full report, click here.