Why Analysis Says Amazon Has More Quantity, Netflix More Quality

As the era of fragmentation approaches, Amazon, true to its dominant strategic ethic, appears to be going for quantity while Netflix, increasingly true to its own path, is going for high quality original content.

There is room for both, but given Amazon's other strengths, the question is whether Netflix can survive as an independent entity if it hopes to compete. JL


Chris Brantner reports in Streaming Observer:

Netflix has nearly 3,000 fewer movies in its streaming library than it did in 2010 and Amazon Prime Video’s movie library is 4.5x bigger. (But) when it comes to the quality of (Netlfix's) movie library, it’s still in the lead. Netflix has more Certified Fresh movies (596) than Prime, Hulu, and HBO NOW combined. In terms of what percent of each movie library is made up of Certified Fresh, not only does Netflix dominate, but Amazon Prime is last. Netflix remains the best streaming service overall…for the time being. As new streaming services from Disney, Apple, and others enter the market, it remains to be seen how long they can hold the crown.

Netflix’s movie library has often been a source of controversy, with critics complaining the streaming service has lost thousands of movies over the years. And while it’s true Netflix has nearly 3,000 fewer movies in its streaming library than it did in 2010 and Amazon Prime Video’s movie library is more than 4.5x bigger, size isn’t the only thing that matters. It’s quality that arguably matters most, so we decided to see which streaming service’s movie library features the most highly rated films.
In order to analyze the quality of movies on each service, we turned to Rotten Tomatoes current list of Certified Fresh movies. Using a combination of data from Rotten Tomatoes, streaming service providers, and third-party sites ReelGood and JustWatch, we analyzed the movie libraries of Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and HBO NOW/HBO GO to how the streaming services’ movie libraries compare.
Here’s what we found. All data is current as of January 20, 2019.

Movie Library Size

When it comes to total number of movies, none of the other major streaming services come close to Amazon Prime. With a total of 17,461 films, Prime’s movie library is more than 4.5x larger than its next closest competitor Netflix, which has 3,839 flicks to choose from.

While many contend that quality is the most important attribute, that’s not to say size doesn’t matter at all. In order to keep subscribers happy, streaming services do need to have a large, diverse library that’s regularly updated so everyone has plenty of options to choose from.
And here, Amazon undeniably is doing a great job, but of course, this doesn’t tell the full story.

Movie Library Quality

Despite concern that Netflix is losing too many movies, one thing is clear — when it comes to the quality of its movie library, it’s still comfortably in the lead. In fact, Netflix has more Certified Fresh movies (596) than Prime, Hulu, and HBO NOW combined.

In fact, when you look at it in terms of what percent of each movie library is made up of Certified Fresh, not only does Netflix completely dominate, but Amazon Prime falls in dead last.

• Netflix – 3,839 movies total, 596 of which are Certified Fresh (15.5%)
• Hulu: 2,336 movies total, 223 of which are Certified Fresh (9.6%)
• HBO Now: 815 movies total, 38 of which are Certified Fresh (4.7%)
• Amazon Prime – 17,461 movies total, 232 of which are Certified Fresh (1.3%)

At the end of the day, Netflix remains the best streaming service overall…for the time being. Of course, as new streaming services from Disney, Apple, and others enter the market and Netflix loses more of its licensed content, it remains to be seen how long they can hold onto the crown.