Is Netflix the most popular streaming service in the Netherlands? How many people actually subscribe to Netflix and use Netflix in the Netherlands?
I have been writing a lot of articles lately dealing with the number of subscribers to popular streaming services. To my great surprise, I discovered that Amazon Prime has 105 million subscribers, though it cannot be said for sure if this is the number of subscribers in the USA or worldwide. Most likely, it is the number of worldwide subscribers, simply because it would be unlikely that they have this number of subscribers in the USA, but nothing can be said for sure.
But, when it comes to Netflix, things are a bit easier, even though they do not publish a lot of numbers either. What we can know about Netflix is that they have about 150 million subscribers worldwide, and the number of subscribers in the Netherlands is somewhere between 2,5 and 4 million.
I have seen numbers varying between 3 and 4,5 million subscribers, but it is very important to know that the number of viewers is far higher than the number of subscribers. After all, you can view Netflix at several locations at the same time with one subscription, and it is normally families and couples that watch content together.
Netflix – the most popular streaming service in the Netherlands
It is very clear that Netflix is, by far, the most popular streaming service in the Netherlands. All other streaming services have less than 500,000 subscribers, meaning that Netflix beats them all. Not only do they have more subscribers, but Netflix has very eager subscribers. Back in 2017, is it said that Netflix subscribers by average spent 85 minutes EVERY SINGLE DAY watching content on the platform. That is one depressing number, at least for those who want to change the world. For Netflix, it is good, but considering how much time we actually spend in front of our TVs and smart devices watching stuff (instead of doing stuff), I find this number to be quite depressing.
What about YouTube in the Netherlands?
But, it is also important to notice that most people watching Netflix, also watch other content. In fact, the most popular video streaming service in the Netherlands is a free one… it is called YouTube. Even more, people use YouTube than Netflix, even though my personal belief is that you get higher quality and spend the best hours of the day on Netflix compared to YouTube.
But, the age-groups most frequently using both YouTube and Netflix is those aged between 12-20 years old. The YouTube audience is by default a bit younger, while the Netflix users normally are a couple of years older.
What about NOS and other services?
Normal television is kind of outdated, but the Dutch TV channel NOS/NPO is still a very popular one. That is why there are loads of people checking out the article on how to watch NPO abroad every month, simply because they are big fans of the Dutch channel and want to watch its content. And the same can be said about Dutch Netflix. It doesn’t matter if it has 2,5 or 4 million subscribers when these people go abroad, they quickly discover that the Netflix content in the rest of the world is different from what they are served in the Netherlands (both for good and for worse). Maybe they discover new content on Netflix that they haven’t seen before (and that they would like to stream), or maybe they discover that their favorite show is gone and that they desperately start searching for ways to access Dutch Netflix abroad as a result.
Netflix Netherlands is getting better and better
What is important to realize is that Netflix is a very important part of our culture, and especially among young people. This means that they speak about Netflix, watch Netflix, speak about Netflix, and then watch some more Netflix. What do they speak about in school? They speak about the most recent season of Stranger Things and Black Mirror, their thoughts on the new show named The I-Land, and all the other stuff that comes with Netflix.
And with this giant success in the Netherlands, Netflix also helps out with Dutch subtitles and dubbing (where needed), making the streaming site even better. No wonder why the Dutch people love Netflix so much!