Business Corpus: Netflix Original Programming Fuels Subscriber Gains: SurveyNetflix and Amazon Prime Video have widened their leads in internet video in the past year, according to an annual survey of U.S. streaming video users. The post Netflix Original Programming Fuels Subscriber Gains: Survey appeared first on Investor's Business Daily.

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In over-the-top internet television, the big are getting bigger as Netflix (NFLX) and Amazon (AMZN) Prime Video have widened their leads in that space during the past year, Morgan Stanley said in a report Monday.

The investment bank's annual survey of U.S. streaming video users showed that while Netflix and Amazon gained ground, "other services broadly declined." Big decliners included traditional TV channels, Morgan Stanley said. The survey also showed a third major over-the-top service, Alphabet (GOOGL)-owned YouTube, was roughly flat in usage vs. a year ago.

Netflix is the most-watched streaming service, viewed by 46% of respondents, up from 42% a year ago. YouTube's free service was second, watched by 37% of respondents. Amazon Prime Video came in third place, capturing 30% of respondents, up from 27% a year ago.

About 45% of Netflix subscribers also watch Amazon Prime Video, while roughly 60% of Prime members also watch Netflix, Morgan Stanley said. The overlap in viewership is about the same as it was in the year-earlier survey.

Morgan Stanley surveyed 3,100 U.S. adults in an online poll in March for its latest report.

Netflix Programming A Draw

Original programming is the main draw for Netflix, while bundling with free shipping and other benefits drives Amazon Prime Video, the survey results showed.

Among Netflix users, 56% selected "good original programming" as the main reason to subscribe. That's up from 51% last year. Other top reasons to subscribe included broad selection of content, attractive pricing and no commercials.

Among Prime members, 74% said bundling of services was the main reason to use it.

Netflix has ramped up spending on original programming lately. It expects to spend about $8 billion on video content in 2018, up from $6 billion in 2017. Its original shows include U.S. productions such as "Stranger Things" and "Lost in Space," as well as foreign productions "Money Heist" from Spain and "The Rain" from Denmark.

From an investment perspective, Morgan Stanley likes Netflix and Amazon in the over-the-top video sector. It rates both stocks as overweight.

Netflix rose 2.5%, near 328, in afternoon trading on the stock market today. Amazon climbed 1.4%, above 1,602.

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