Special Report

This Is America's Worst Streaming Service

marcoventuriniautieri / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images

Premium video streaming is in trouble. Subscriber growth seems to be waning, and customer satisfaction is no longer as high as it used to be. America’s worst streaming service is Crackle.

The growth of the wildly successful Disney+ has slowed considerably, Walt Disney Company noted in its recent financial report. While Disney+ has 118.1 million subscribers — among the largest in the world — new subscriber additions have almost disappeared, the company said. The company blames the problem on fewer people staying home because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Netflix, the industry leader, recently posted a similar slowdown.

There are two challenges the industry faces. The first is that the decline in COVID-19 cases — before omicron — has allowed people to return to theaters. The other challenge is an increase in competition. More and more large media companies have decided to launch services of their own. The industry has become tremendously fragmented. Research demonstrates that the average American subscribes to four services. However, many more than that are available.

The quality of streaming services has also become an issue. The widely followed American Customer Satisfaction Index looked at customer satisfaction of streaming services. (This is where you can stream the best classic shows right now.)

To find America’s worst streaming service,  24/7 Tempo reviewed ACSI’s 2020-2021 Telecommunications Study, which includes streaming services. The study is based on interviews with 37,907 customers conducted between April 1, 2020 and March 29, 2021. Services are ranked on a scale from zero to 100.

Customer satisfaction from streaming services continues to be higher than from other telecom services, but that edge has started to disappear. The authors of the study commented: “While consumers still prefer streaming above all other telecom industries, its stranglehold on the segment is slipping as its lead over the next closest industry shrinks to just 3 points.” 

Some of the results are unexpected. The average service received a score of 74. Industry leader Netflix scored 75. The other leader in subscribers, Amazon Prime Video, scored 74. Amazon’s video service is part of its Prime paid program for customers, which includes other perks such as free shipping of products bought at Amazon.com.

The streaming service with the best customer satisfaction score is Disney+ at 78. While there is no exact reason given for this, Disney+ does have a tremendous movie library from Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, and Marvel. (These are the best comedy movies available to stream right now.)

At the very bottom of the list is Crackle, a service few people have heard of. It scored 68. It is owned by Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment and was once a part of Sony.

Click here for the worst and best streaming services

David Peperkamp / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

20. Disney+
> ACSI score: 78/100

[in-text-ad]

wdstock / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

19. Microsoft Store
> ACSI score: 77/100

Sundry Photography / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

18. Twitch (Amazon)
> ACSI score: 76/100

jetcityimage / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

17. HBO (AT&T)
> ACSI score: 75/100

[in-text-ad-2]

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

16. HBO Max (AT&T)
> ACSI score: 75/100

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

15. Hulu
> ACSI score: 75/100

[in-text-ad]

mphillips007 / Getty Images

14. Netflix
> ACSI score: 75/100

ozgurdonmaz / Getty Images

13. YouTube TV (Google)
> ACSI score: 75/100

marcoventuriniautieri / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images

12. Amazon Prime Video
> ACSI score: 74/100

[in-text-ad-2]

Ирина Мещерякова / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

11. Apple TV App
> ACSI score: 74/100

Spauln / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images

10. Google Play
> ACSI score: 74/100

[in-text-ad]

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

9. Starz
> ACSI score: 74/100

Courtesy of ViacomCBS

8. CBS All Access (ViacomCBS)
> ACSI score: 73/100

SweetBabeeJay / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

7. Vudu (Comcast)
> ACSI score: 73/100

[in-text-ad-2]

AdrianHancu / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

6. Apple TV+
> ACSI score: 72/100

jetcityimage / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

5. AT&T TV NOW
> ACSI score: 72/100

[in-text-ad]

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

4. Showtime (ViacomCBS)
> ACSI score: 72/100

J. Michael Jones / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

3. Sling TV (DISH Network)
> ACSI score: 72/100

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

2. Peacock (Comcast)
> ACSI score: 71/100

[in-text-ad-2]

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

1. Crackle
> ACSI score: 68/100

Take This Retirement Quiz To Get Matched With An Advisor Now (Sponsored)

Are you ready for retirement? Planning for retirement can be overwhelming, that’s why it could be a good idea to speak to a fiduciary financial advisor about your goals today.

Start by taking this retirement quiz right here from SmartAsset that will match you with up to 3 financial advisors that serve your area and beyond in 5 minutes. Smart Asset is now matching over 50,000 people a month.

Click here now to get started.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.