Gracenote Sports Streaming Expanded Offerings in Q1

Nielsen’s Gracenote recently reported a major growth in sports content on the top global SVOD services in the first quarter of this year, with Disney+ and Netflix leading the charge.

In the past quarter, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+, Netflix, and Paramount+ collectively increased sports programs by more than 72 percent. Specifically, Disney+ and Netflix expanded their sports content by 471 percent and nearly 100 percent, respectively, since October 2024.

Disney+ saw a significant uptick in sports content with the addition of ESPN programming, now making up almost 33 percent of available sports shows, closely behind Amazon’s 35 percent and Netflix at 23 percent.

The study also found that Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+, Netflix, and Paramount+ increased their catalogs by 6.7 percent in Q1, with a 5.4 percent increase in TV content and 7.6 percent in movies. Prime Video remains the dominant distributor of video content, with 69 percent of the programming available.

While drama still reigns as the top genre across all the services, Disney+ has seen a shift with documentary, comedy, children, and adventure genres gaining popularity.

Bill Michels, chief product officer at Gracenote, emphasized the importance of live sports programming as a key driver of user growth, retention, and engagement for streaming services. He also noted that relevant metadata, such as synopses, scores, highlights, and imagery, play a crucial role in enhancing user experiences and keeping audiences engaged beyond live games.