Who Won the Streaming Wars in February 2021?

In just 30 seconds, our Watchworthy recommendation app gets to know your taste in TV and gives every show a “Worthy Score” specifically for you — the higher a show’s Worthy Score, the more likely it is you will enjoy that show. Over the month of February, we tracked each time a show received a Worthy Score of 80% or higher, then organized all those shows according to network. The resulting analysis allowed us to determine which network’s content is being recommended to the most users — in other words, it told us which of the major streaming platforms is currently winning the Streaming Wars.

Metrics like views and streams tell us how popular a given show or service is, but they don’t give us a strong sense of how the television landscape is shifting: the same few hugely popular shows tend to dominate viewers’ time from month to month. By relying on the Watchworthy algorithm, which itself relies on the “Likes” and “Dislikes” of Ranker and Watchworthy users, Worthy Scores give us a sense of not just what’s popular, but what’s trending in TV today. The Watchworthy algorithm recommends new shows to viewers based on what they already love — it doesn’t recommend hugely popular shows like Breaking Bad or The Office all that much, because typically our users have already seen those shows. Using an aggregate of Worthy Scores can therefore tell us which shows are most rapidly growing their fanbase, and makes it easier to tie their success to larger, more universally popular series.

With that in mind, we’re taking a look at the networks and shows recommended most often by Watchworthy to track the constantly changing habits of TV viewers everywhere. Here are the shows and streaming platforms that were most Watchworthy in February 2021.

Which Shows Were Most Watchworthy?

1. The Mandalorian — Disney+

2. The Witcher — Netflix

3. Euphoria — HBO Max

4. The Umbrella Academy — Netflix

5. Rick and Morty — Hulu/HBO Max

6. The Boys — Amazon Prime Video

7. Game of Thrones — HBO Max

8. Stranger Things — Netflix

9. South Park — HBO Max

10. The Expanse — Amazon Prime

11. Vampire Diaries — Netflix

12. Chernobyl — HBO Max

13. Mindhunter — Netflix

14. Westworld — HBO Max

15. Family Guy — Hulu

16. Sex Education — Netflix

17. Unsolved Mysteries — Netflix

18. Teen Wolf — Amazon Prime Video

19. The Wire — HBO Max

20. Breaking Bad — Netflix

Which Streaming Platforms Were Most Watchworthy?

Watchworthy made slightly fewer recommendations in February than it has in previous months, mostly due to the fact that the algorithm had only 28 days to make those recommendations. But the low volume of recommendations only partially explains the considerable shifts in rankings that occurred between January and February of this year.

HBO Max Surges into Second: Not only did HBO Max jump from fourth place in January to second place this month, but it was also a mere 6% away from Netflix — in January, the deficit between Netflix and its closest competitor was 23%. Much of this jump can be attributed to Euphoria: as we predicted, the late January release of Euphoria Special Episode: Part II ended up boosting the show. But HBO Max shows across the board saw an increase in recommendations, including both original content like Chernobyl and acquired series like Rick and Morty. HBO’s recent release of major films like Judas and the Black Messiah, The Little Things, and Tom & Jerry: The Movie could also be driving renewed interest in the service’s content library.

Netflix’s Lead Is Suddenly Precarious: HBO Max’s gain has been Netflix’s loss. Even though The Witcher soared up our list to become the #2 most highly recommended show in February, other mainstays like Sex Education and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina saw big drops in recommendations. What’s more, The Umbrella Academy dropped from second to fourth place — if this trend continues, HBO Max could overtake Netflix for the first time next month.

Amazon Holds Steady: Prime Video’s share of high recommendations dropped 1%in February, but it kept its third-place spot while Hulu and HBO swapped positions. The platform’s biggest asset in Watchworthy, The Boys, fell from the Top 5 this month, but that loss was offset by strong performances from shows like The Expanse and Teen Wolf, an MTV series that is available to stream in its entirety on Amazon Prime Video.

Disney+ Pushes Ahead: Though it’s still relying on its two most popular shows, The Mandalorian and The Simpsons, the resiliency of those shows has allowed Disney+ to take its highest position in the rankings so far. What’s more, WandaVision is all but guaranteed to strengthen the service’s position this month: in just the first three days of March 2021, the show was tied for fourth most Watchworthy show overall, alongside Family Guy and The Witcher.

Hulu Falls to Fifth: Hulu shows weren’t recommended nearly as highly this month as they were in January. Only three shows performed well enough to merit mention here: Rick and Morty, Family Guy, and Fargo. Since the highest performing of them is also available to stream on HBO Max, these shows weren’t enough to put Hulu within striking range of its surging competitor.

Peacock Unable to Maintain Momentum: Peacock’s strong start has been undercut by a setback in February, with both The Office and The Good Place seeing considerable drop-offs in recommendations. It remains to be seen whether a crop of new shows like Mr. Mayor, Kenan, and Young Rock will buoy the service in a competition that rewards trending content better than established, highly popular shows.

Want to learn more about how we built a TV recommendation engine using Ranker Insights data? We tell the whole story in our Watchworthy white paper, which you can download here for free.

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