Coronavirus shutdowns and stay-at-home orders have sparked a new boom in the streaming world as established companies rev up content and new players, like HBO Max and Quibi, look to make a splash. Here’s what the industry’s biggest streaming companies are doing to stay ahead of the competition—and how much they’re spending on content in 2020, according to Bloomberg Intelligence data.
Netflix, unsurprisingly, will dole out the most for new content in 2020, with a budget of $16 billion, according to Bloomberg. The company, which has had past success with original series like Stranger Things and Orange is the New Black, reported a record 16 million new subscribers in the first quarter, bringing its total number of subscriptions worldwide to 183 million.
Amazon, whose Prime Video service has emerged as another big player in the streaming wars, plans to spend $7 billion on content this year. CEO Jeff Bezos, announced earlier this year that Amazon Prime (which includes Prime Video) now boasts over 150 million subscribers worldwide, up from 100 million a year ago.
Netflix’s stock is up over 31% so far this year while Amazon shares are up 29% and hit a new record high on Wednesday.
One key streaming service was left out of Bloomberg’s analysis on content spending: Apple TV+. Originally launched in November 2019 with a content budget of $6 billion, it is the cheapest of any streaming platform, at just $4.99 per month.
