The last decade has seen a significant change in the way people consume information. Since the mid-00s, where platforms like YouTube were just starting out, there has been a gradual change in the ways people choose to watch TV.
The streaming boom over the last 10 years has led to an increase in so-called ‘cord cutters’ – ie, people choosing to permanently move away from more traditional methods of viewing (e.g. cable or satellite TV), and onto online platforms.
According to Statista, the leading streaming platforms across the US (by average monthly users) are as follows: YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video and Vimeo. To delve into this more, TRG Datacenters has uncovered which of these services is most popular in each state. To do so, they cross-checked the popularity each service using Google Trends data from 2019 to 2020.
YouTube prevailed as the US’ favorite streaming service, coming out on top in 36 different states, pulling in 163.75 million monthly average users. With around 300 hours worth of videos uploaded to the site every minute, one of the biggest draws of YouTube is the vast amount of content available.
As a US-only streaming platform, Hulu placed second in TRG’s research and was a favorite in multiple states, including Maine and Montana. The Disney owned platform has generated a strong customer base across the country, having a reported 26 million monthly users in 2019 – positioning itself as a go-to service for streaming TV shows and movies from large television networks.
Netflix came in third place in the research and was the favourite streaming service in Vermont. One of the biggest selling points of the service is the sheer variety of program choices on offer, with thousands of TV show and movie titles spanning a range of genres. For this reason, Netflix is widely regarded as the quintessential streaming service.
Amazon Prime Video is the country’s fourth most-searched-for streaming platform and was favourite of Vermont. In second place was Alaska, followed by Montana. Although the platform has an average of 16 million monthly users, its popularity may be accounted for by the fact that access comes free with every Amazon prime account.
Vimeo is one of the lesser-known video platforms for the average user, and it was the US’ least favourite platform. But instead of appealing to the masses, it has gained notoriety as a video sharing platform for professionals, offering advanced customization for experienced video and filmmakers.
The vast amount of content that is available on the five platforms included within our research is astounding, and it will be interesting to see how this develops and increases even more in years to come.
So, here is each states favourite streaming service according to TRG’s research:
Alabama, Netflix
Alaska, YouTube
Arizona, YouTube
Arkansas, YouTube
California, YouTube
Colorado, Netflix
Connecticut, YouTube
Delaware, YouTube
District of Columbia, Netflix
Florida, YouTube
Georgia, YouTube
Hawaii, Vimeo
Idaho, Hulu
Illinois, YouTube
Indiana, YouTube
Iowa, Hulu
Kansas, Hulu
Kentucky, YouTube
Louisiana, YouTube
Maine, Hulu
Maryland, YouTube
Massachusetts, Netflix
Michigan, YouTube
Minnesota, YouTube
Mississippi, YouTube
Missouri, Hulu
Montana, Hulu
Nebraska, Hulu
Nevada, YouTube
New Hampshire, YouTube
New Jersey, YouTube
New Mexico, YouTube
New York, YouTube
North Carolina , YouTube
North Dakota, Hulu
Ohio, YouTube
Oklahoma, YouTube
Oregon, YouTube
Pennsylvania, YouTube
Rhode Island, Netflix
South Carolina , YouTube
South Dakota, YouTube
Tennessee, YouTube
Texas, YouTube
Utah, YouTube
Vermont, Amazon Prime and Netflix
Virginia, YouTube
Washington, YouTube
West Virginia, YouTube
Wisconsin, YouTube
Wyoming, YouTube and Hulu
Statista research details ‘the most popular video streaming services in the United States as of September 2019, by monthly average users’, the full research can be found here. This was combined with Google Trends data from Oct 2019 – Oct 2020, which revealed search data for each US state and ‘scored’ it out of 100.