There are apparently 1600 online television channels available in the United States. However, the top five channels drive a fifth of the online visits across the top 100 channels. Paramount and its Pluto TV division claim the top five spots, with the Star Trek channel among the top three over a three-month period.
Research by Omdia in partnership with PlumResearch found that Pluto TV channels and the Star Trek channel, all from Paramount, claimed the top five spots in the June to August 2013, accounting for between a fifth and quarter of the top 100 channel visits.
The most visited online channel was Pluto TV Spotlight and the Star Trek channel was consistently in the top three.
The top 20 channels accounted for almost half of all channel visits to so-called FAST channels that offer free advertiser-supported streaming television.
Maria Rua Aguete of Omdia said “Twenty channels now represent around 50% of FAST viewing in the United States, so we are likely to see a lot more consolidation in future as the importance of offering strong IP — such as Star Trek — on an exclusive basis grows.”
The number of channels is still rising. Leading online television services Samsung TV Plus, Pluto TV, Freevee and others increased the size of their channel catalogues in 2023, though ViX and LG Channels saw slight reductions.
According to Nielsen data, Pluto TV accounted for 0.8% of all television viewing in September 2023. Online television services made up 37.5% of all television viewing.