Streaming Wars, September 2021: Disney+ reaches another milestone

Netflix has a quiet month, Paramount+ makes its mark and Disney+ continues to amass subscribers. The latest from the front lines of the Streaming Wars:

Every month, we read over the latest dispatches from the front lines of the Streaming Wars and assess how the likes of Netflix, HBO Max, Apple TV+ and others are doing in the field. Who’s winning victories, who’s going home in defeat, and who’s holding their ground? We record all the info on this graph, which changes every month.

Here are this month’s reports from the front:

Paramount+

Between a new season of Star Trek: Lower Decks, more episodes of RuPauls Drag Race All Stars, and the all-powerful PAW Patrol movie, Paramount+ had a pretty good month! There was a healthy selection of new library titles too. Points: +3

Netflix

Netflix always has new original content to watch — some of the highlights from this month included The Kissing Booth season 3, The Chair, The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, and He’s All That — but these didn’t move the needle as much as Netflix’s originals usually do. The biggest news may have been that the service saved Manifest from cancellation. Points: + 2

Disney+

Disney+ rolled out new episodes of somewhat buzzworthy new shows this month, including Monsters at Work, Turner and Hooch and What If…? But Disney’s main strength is its marketing: the streamer ran a making-of special on The Mandalorian that got nearly as much buzz as any of its other original content. With over 116 million subscribers and counting, they’re clearly doing something right. Points: + 4

Hulu

Hulu scored some buzz with originals like Vacation Friends and Nine Perfect Strangers, hosted new seasons of FX series like Archer and American Horror Story, and brought in a solid batch of new library titles. Not bad for the quietest best streaming service out there. Points: +2

HBO Max

As usual, HBO Max has plenty of great library titles to sift through, but its big originals for August were a pair of DC releases: Titans season 3 and the movie The Suicide Squad. And then there’s whatever FBOY Island is. A bit of a wash in the end. Points: + 2

Amazon Prime Video

Amazon gets some great library titles this month, but they’re titles that are also available several other places. The big original gets are the second season of Modern Love and EVANGELION:3.0+1.01 THRICE UPON A TIME. Points: + 1

Apple TV+

Apple TV+ doesn’t have library titles, so it lives and dies by the strength of its originals, and this month they’re…okay. Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s drama Mr. Corman made some waves, and it’s heard not to at least admire the ambition of the post-apocalyptic drama See. Plus there are new episodes of Ted Lasso. Points: + 2

Peacock

Some solid library titles (the John Wick movies, the Nightmare of Elm Street movies, etc) can’t make up for a lack of buzzworthy originals this month. Points: + 1

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