Streaming Wars, January 2021: Netflix crosses a threshold, Disney+ kicks off the TVMCU

How are the streaming wars going? Disney+ starts a new era with WandaVision, HBO Max keeps itself in the news, and Netflix remains king.

Every month, we look back at the most recent battles in the streaming wars, the ongoing fight between the likes of Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+ and more to win your time and money. Who triumphed over the last four weeks? Who was defeated? We’re keeping track of it all on an ever-evolving chart that changes month to month!

So how are our combatants kicking off the new year? Like this:

CBS All Access

CBS All Access is up to around eight million subscribers, is changing its name to Paramount+, and dropped a new trailer that gathered together some of its biggest stars. Not the flashiest month for the streaming service, but not bad, either. Points: + 1

Netflix

Netflix had fewer needle-moving originals than usual this month, with only Cobra Kai season 3 really blowing up. But that’s okay, because Bridgerton is still dominating the conversation. And oh yeah, Netflix topped 200 million subscribers this month. Points: + 3

Disney+

Disney+ had a few new things on offer this month, but WandaVision — the first MCU TV show — was the only one people were talking about much. Still, they were talking about it a lot. Points: + 2

Hulu

A pretty quiet month for Hulu. It’s big-name originals were The Ultimate Playlist of Noise and the second season of sci-fi show Endlings, which came alongside older favorites. (Can I interest you in the Austin Powers movies? Or maybe the second season of One Punch Man?) Points: + 1

HBO Max

Not much in the way of originals this month (anyone wanna watch season 4 of Search Party?), but lots of good older stuff, including Tarantino movies, the Mad Max movies, the Dark Knight trilogy, the Oceans movies, and more. Plus, HBO Max made sure it stayed in the headlines with more good news about the success of Wonder Woman 1984 and reports about additional Game of Thrones spin-offs. Points: + 2

Amazon Prime Video

In January, Amazon brought us original content like Herself, One Night in Miami and Flack, plus older stuff like Dr. Strangelove, Last of the Mohicans and all eight seasons of Dexter. It was fine. Points: + 1

Apple TV+

This was a good month for Apple TV+, featuring the premieres of the second seasons of Servant and Dickinson. It also had Palmer, starring Justin Timberlake as an ex-con. It’s still pretty weak compared to other streaming services, though. Points: + 1

Peacock

Not much in the way of new originals this month, but lots of old favorites, from Love Actually to a bunch of Spielberg classics to the entirety of the American Office. Also free. Points + 2

Check out the full, living graph here:

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