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How Women's Viewing Habits Factor Into Streaming Wars

Casey Greene

• 2 min read
How Women's Viewing Habits Factor Into Streaming Wars
Photo by Erik Mclean / Unsplash

The viewing habits of women are an often overlooked but crucial piece of the streaming wars. According to a new survey from MX8 Labs, 67% of women watch movies and TV shows daily, making female-focused content essential for streaming services and FASTs. With the war for viewer attention showing no signs of slowing down, let’s break down which platforms are successfully winning women over:

  • 73% of women say they use Netflix, favoring its original series above all other content types.
  • Netflix is followed closely by Prime Video (65%) and Hulu (60%). 
  • The most-watched FASTs are Tubi (33%), The Roku Channel (28%) and Pluto TV (20%).

Platforms are using a variety of strategies to win over female viewers. MX8 data reveals that in terms of popular content genres, TV dramas are a favorite, cited by 69% of women, as are true crime documentaries (55%).

Looking at specific platforms, Netflix has invested heavily in female-leg original series to great results, producing hits like Wednesday, Nobody Wants This, Emily in Paris and Bridgerton — all of which have multiple seasons, another sign of their success. Meanwhile, Prime Video has been appealing to romcom fans with starry releases including The Idea of You and You’re Cordially Invited. 

All that aside, the MX8 survey highlighted how different types of content perform better on certain platforms with female viewers: 

  • 67% of women like movies on Prime Video, overperforming other platforms.
  • 58% of women favor Netflix for original series.
  • Discovery+ wins for documentaries (55%). 
  • Paramount+ (53%) and Pluto TV (52%) lead for network TV shows. 

Of course, YouTube is also becoming an increasingly big part of TV viewing time despite not being a traditional streaming service. The video platform stood out for its success advertising to women. However it's not all good news: YouTube is ahead of other platforms with the largest share of female viewers that were able to name specific brands that advertised, at 34% — but at the same time, 32% said YouTube has too many ads.