Amazon is beginning to catch up to Netflix

Who’s winning the streaming wars? Netflix, currently. Amazon is quickly catching up, however, likely thanks to its Prime memberships which include access to a large array of movies and TV shows, original content and, of course, its brand new streaming box dedicated to Amazon content. A new study from Parks Associates shows Netflix’s current dominance in the market, and just how quickly Amazon is catching up.

Amazon appears to be making all the right moves. While Netflix continues to dominate the streaming video market – between 50 and 60 percent of U.S. broadband households are subscribers, Amazon Prime Instant video is rising fast, reaching about 20 percent of households, according to a recent study by Parks Associates. The numbers reflect huge strides for the company over the last few years, far outpacing Netflix in terms of year-over-year growth in the U.S. Polling 10,000 U.S. broadband households, the Parks Associates Q1 2014 survey determined that the number of Amazon Prime Instant Video subscriptions has grown – on average – more than 55 percent annually since 2012; by comparison, Netflix has seen an average annual growth rate of just 16 percent for service subscription numbers in that same time period.