A major fact of life when it comes to the new streaming reality is that you don’t have to subscribe to just one. Most cord-cutters, and other streaming users, subscribe to several, with the average number of subscribed services somewhere between four and five.

But what if you had to choose just one?

A new survey from Whip Media, as cited by Cord Cutters News and Advanced Television, sought to answer that question and several others about streaming behaviors.

In response to the question of which service they would choose if they could only pick one, forty-one percent answered Netflix, followed by Hulu with twenty-one percent, HBO Max with thirteen percent, Disney+ with nine percent, Amazon Prime Video with six percent, Paramount+ with two percent, and one percent each for Discovery+, Peacock and Apple TV+. Three percent each answered “other” and “none of the above.”

The Whip Media survey also asked “How Important is Library Content,” with sixty-one percent answering “very important,” thirty-one percent answering “important,” and just one percent answering “unimportant.”

However, when measuring “satisfaction,” the top performer was not Netflix but rather HBO Max, with over fifty percent proclaiming themselves “very satisfied.” Netflix was second, followed by Hulu, Disney+, Prime Video, Paramount+, Discovery+, Peacock, and Apple TV+.

In addition, seventy percent of respondents say there are too many subscription streaming services.

“SVoD has changed how people consume and purchase content and how studios and producers pursue monetising that content. Beyond that, it continues to force advertisers to find ways to reach viewers who have abandoned the linear channels,” Advanced Television said. “As a result, streaming video has driven tectonic changes in how media companies are organised and valued, and catalysed M&A activity. After the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated an already rapidly changing media environment, Whip Media says it is imperative that we understand how the public is perceiving SVoD as a whole, what they want from it and how the individual platforms are delivering on those expectations.”

Whip Media is described on its website as a “market leading enterprise software platform centrally connects data, processes, and teams throughout the digital distribution journey.”

“Powered by proprietary data and predictive insights, we enable the world’s top entertainment organizations to efficiently distribute, control and monetize their TV and movie content to drive revenue and direct-to-consumer growth. The company’s newest innovation, the Whip Media Exchange is a next-generation content marketplace that makes global film and TV content licensing faster and more efficient.”

We noted earlier this year that while Netflix pioneered the notion of TV shows releasing entire seasons at once, streaming services, especially Disney+, is moving away from that model.

Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist, and film critic, who is also a contributor to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.

Image: Reuters