Netflix continues to reign as the king of streaming TV and movies, although a plucky upstart company named Amazon has made significant inroads in the market.
A new report from Sandvine, a Canadian company that offers services to broadband Internet companies, found Netflix the runaway leader in peak period downstream traffic in North America, with a 35% share. Amazon Prime Instant Video was the next paid streaming service on the list, with a 2.6% share.
While the two services remain separated by more than 30 percentage points, Amazon’s traffic has more than doubled over the last 18 months, according to the report. Hulu came in tenth with a 1.4% share.
Amazon has been trying to attract more people to its Amazon Prime service, which costs $99 per year, by offering an ever-increasing number of perks, like the video streaming service, free two-day shipping, and more. In early November, Amazon added Prime Photos, an unlimited photo storage service, to Prime membership.
See also: Amazon’s Free Photo Storage Offer: Nice, But Late And Not Too Compelling
Following Netflix’s model of creating its own content, Amazon debuted its own original series, Transparent, in September. The show stars Jeffrey Tambor and has been well-received so far. Amazon will debut Mozart in the Jungle, starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Saffron Burrows, in December.
Netflix was already a leader in European downstream traffic (7th with a 3.4% share) when it expanded to France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, and Luxembourg in September; its ranking is expected to rise. Netflix was 6th in Latin America; Amazon Instant Video did not rank in the top 10 in Europe or Latin America.
See also: HBO Will Finally Give Cord-Cutters The Streaming They Crave
More players will try to cut into Netflix’s share of the market. HBO announced in October that it would offer an option for cable-cutters to sign up for HBO GO exclusively. Earlier this month, CBS CEO Leslie Moonves said Showtime will also have such an option “fairly definitively” in 2015.
Netflix and Amazon did not respond to requests for comment.
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