CompetitorsNarrow moat

Netflix (NFLX) — moat facet

Netflix's real competitor is anything else a person could do with the evening, and on the television that increasingly means YouTube.

Netflix does not describe its competition as other streaming services. Its 10-K says it competes "with a broad set of activities for consumers' leisure time", naming linear television, other streaming services, video games, open content platforms and social media1. The job, in its own phrase, is "winning moments of truth"2.

Growth in Netflix TV view share, Q4 2022 to Q3 2025 (%)+15%United States+22%United KingdomNielsen and Barb, via Netflix Q3 2025 shareholder letter
Share rising in its two most-measured markets, even as YouTube grows faster.

The rivals that matter are four different kinds of relationship. YouTube competes for the same hours on the same television with a platform built on uploads rather than commissions. The studios, Paramount and the rest, sell Netflix shows while running services of their own. Amazon bundles video into a shopping membership and has bought MGM, Thursday Night Football and an NBA slate3. And the sports leagues and rights holders are suppliers whose price rises every time a new bidder turns up.

Netflix's position against all four is the same number: its share of viewing. It reached 9.0% of American television time in December 2025, an all-time high4, and Nielsen measured it at 8.0% in May 2026, fourth among distributors, behind YouTube at 13.8%5. The company says its share of TV time remains below 10% in its major markets6.

That is a big business in a small share. Linear television still held over 40% of American TV screen time at the end of 20257, so the pool Netflix draws from is still moving its way.

Netflix's share has been rising in its two most studied markets. Its share of television viewing in the United States and Britain reached record highs in the third quarter of 2025, having grown 15% and 22% respectively since the fourth quarter of 2022, according to Nielsen and Barb8. The company estimates it has about 5% of television view share globally9. The contest with YouTube is therefore not a story of Netflix shrinking; it is a story of a rival growing faster in the same room.

Netflix's own list of rivals has lengthened. Its fourth-quarter 2025 letter names YouTube, Amazon, Instagram, Paramount+ with CBS and Fox with Tubi10, a mix of social platforms, retailers and broadcasters rather than pure streaming services. The company's answer is the same in every case: more of the programming members come for, spread across more members than any of them.

The competitive verdict is narrow and holding. The figure that would change it is Netflix's share of American television time; a sustained fall below 8% while YouTube keeps rising would say the contest for attention has turned.

Moat trajectory: Holding steady

US TV share 8.0% in May 2026, 9.0% peak in December 2025.

The number that tests this moat
Third-party estimate
Share of US TV time, Nielsen
8.0% (May 2026), against YouTube 13.8%

Netflix's hold on attention; a sustained fall below 8% with YouTube rising would mean the contest is turning.

Source: Nielsen, May 2026 Gauge ↗
Dig deeper
DIG DEEPER 01
YouTube: The Rival for the Same Hours
YouTube takes more American television time than Netflix with a platform built on uploads rather than commissioned shows.
DIG DEEPER 02
The Studios That Sell to Netflix and Compete With It
Netflix's content suppliers are also its competitors, and the largest of them just got larger by winning Warner Bros.
DIG DEEPER 03
Amazon: The Bundler
Amazon puts video inside a shopping membership, a rival whose video does not have to stand alone as a subscription.
DIG DEEPER 04
The Leagues and Rights Holders Who Set the Price
In live sport the rights holder sets the price, and every new bidder, Netflix included, makes it higher.
References
  1. ReportedIts 10-K says it competes "with a broad set of activities for consumers' leisure time", naming linear television, other streaming services, video games, open content platforms and social media.
    Netflix Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - Item 1A risk factors: competition, regulation and levies, currency, labor and the Brazil tax matter. — FY2025 · publ. 23 January 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedThe job, in its own phrase, is "winning moments of truth".
    Netflix Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - Item 1A risk factors: competition, regulation and levies, currency, labor and the Brazil tax matter. — FY2025 · publ. 23 January 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedAmazon bundles video into a shopping membership and has bought MGM, Thursday Night Football and an NBA slate.
    Netflix fourth-quarter 2025 shareholder letter, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1 - 325 million paid memberships, 2026 guidance, advertising revenue, named competitors, content licensing and the pause in buybacks. — Q4 2025 · publ. 20 January 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedIt reached 9.0% of American television time in December 2025, an all-time high, and Nielsen measured it at 8.0% in May 2026, fourth among distributors, behind YouTube at 13.8%.
    Netflix fourth-quarter 2025 shareholder letter, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1 - 325 million paid memberships, 2026 guidance, advertising revenue, named competitors, content licensing and the pause in buybacks. — Q4 2025 · publ. 20 January 2026 · source ↗
  5. Third-party estimateIt reached 9.0% of American television time in December 2025, an all-time high, and Nielsen measured it at 8.0% in May 2026, fourth among distributors, behind YouTube at 13.8%.
    Nielsen, 'Streaming embarks on annual summer ascent in Nielsen's May 2026 Gauge reports' - Media Distributor Gauge: YouTube 13.8% of TV watch time, Netflix 8.0%, Prime Video a platform-best 4.5%; Netflix helped by the acquired series La Brea. — May 2026 · publ. 28 July 2026 · source ↗
  6. ReportedThe company says its share of TV time remains below 10% in its major markets.
    Netflix fourth-quarter 2025 shareholder letter, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1 - 325 million paid memberships, 2026 guidance, advertising revenue, named competitors, content licensing and the pause in buybacks. — Q4 2025 · publ. 20 January 2026 · source ↗
  7. ReportedLinear television still held over 40% of American TV screen time at the end of 2025, so the pool Netflix draws from is still moving its way.
    Netflix fourth-quarter 2025 shareholder letter, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1 - 325 million paid memberships, 2026 guidance, advertising revenue, named competitors, content licensing and the pause in buybacks. — Q4 2025 · publ. 20 January 2026 · source ↗
  8. ReportedIts share of television viewing in the United States and Britain reached record highs in the third quarter of 2025, having grown 15% and 22% respectively since the fourth quarter of 2022, according to Nielsen and Barb.
    Netflix third-quarter 2025 shareholder letter, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1 - the Brazil tax charge, the ads plan in 12 markets, US and UK view share and KPop Demon Hunters. — Q3 2025 · publ. 21 October 2025 · source ↗
  9. ReportedThe company estimates it has about 5% of television view share globally.
    Netflix first-quarter 2026 shareholder letter, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1 - the raised free cash flow forecast, TV view share, the InterPositive acquisition and Reed Hastings leaving the board. — Q1 2026 · publ. 16 April 2026 · source ↗
  10. ReportedIts fourth-quarter 2025 letter names YouTube, Amazon, Instagram, Paramount+ with CBS and Fox with Tubi, a mix of social platforms, retailers and broadcasters rather than pure streaming services.
    Netflix fourth-quarter 2025 shareholder letter, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1 - 325 million paid memberships, 2026 guidance, advertising revenue, named competitors, content licensing and the pause in buybacks. — Q4 2025 · publ. 20 January 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 26, 2026