Amazon’s Instant Video streaming service posted a sizable jump in usage since February, though Netflix remains the market leader by far. This according to a new survey from 451 Research’s ChangeWave service, which looked at use among the paid alternative TV providers. The survey found that use of Amazon’s service had ticked up five percentage points since February, while use of Netflix had dropped slightly.
The ChangeWave study asked 1,115 North American consumers about the streaming services they used and the devices on which they accessed them. Among respondents using alternative TV providers, 82 percent said they used Netflix, down from 84 percent in February. Meanwhile, Amazon Instant Video users jumped from 17 percent in February to 22 percent in September.
Apple’s iTunes also saw a slight uptick of one point to 16 percent, and Hulu Plus saw usage increase by two percentage points to eight percent.
According to ChangeWave, the last two years have seen Amazon’s service steadily on the rise, with Netflix use dropping over the same period. Since December of 2010, Netflix has gone from 91 percent to 82 percent, and Amazon has risen from seven percent to 22.
The survey found more bad news for Netflix, as 17 percent of Netflix-subscribing participants said they were more likely to cancel their Netflix subscriptions. It also found that 18 percent of Netflix subscribers were also paying for Amazon Instant Video.
As to customer satisfaction, Apple’s iTunes service had the highest proportion of “very satisfied” users at 35 percent, followed by Netflix at 23 percent, Amazon at 22 percent, and Hulu Plus at 20 percent.
Apple’s iPad and iPhone were the most popular individual devices for streaming content from any service at 32 and 25 percent, respectively. Blu-Ray players and video game consoles were among the most popular device categories, and Smart TVs led Apple’s Apple TV and Roku devices among respondents.
