A new study suggests that Hulu, not Netflix, is the dominant streaming service for TV shows
- A recent study found that Hulu is the dominant streaming service when it comes to television.
- Netflix isn't far behind, but Hulu has the most shows and offers the most "quality" shows at the best value, according to the study.
Despite Netflix's efforts to bombard its subscribers with content - it wants to have 1,000 original shows and movies by year's end - a new study suggests it's not the leading streaming service in quality television.
According to the study from online-streaming guide Reelgood, that designation goes to Hulu. Reelgood examined which streaming service out of five - Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, HBO, and Showtime - offered the most television shows, and then broke it down to which offers the most "quality" television for what users pay.
Reelgood found that Hulu's full television catalog offers the most shows at around 1,800. So it leads in quantity, but what about quality?
The study defined a "quality" show as being in the top 20,000 most popular titles on Reelgood, along with having a 6.5 score or higher with a minimum of 300 votes on IMDb. It went a step further, too, and characterized a high-quality show as the same, but with an IMDB score of at least 8.
It found that Hulu has both the most quality and high-quality shows. Hulu easily came out on top with nearly 800 quality shows compared to Netflix's 500, but it barely edged out Netflix in the latter category.
Reelgood also looked at what service provides the most quality television at the best value for subscribers.
Hulu costs $12 a month while Netflix costs $10.99. But according to the study, subscribers get the most bang for their buck with Hulu when looking at the total number of shows available for each dollar spent.
When it comes to quality and high-quality shows for the best value, Hulu wins the former, while Hulu and Netflix tie for the latter.
So while Netflix isn't exactly out of the race, Hulu comes out on top in the end. There is a clear loser, though, as was the case with Reelgood's film study: Showtime came in last in each area of the study.