As Netflix attempts to build a library lined with majority original material, quality and quantity are of course going to be at odds. But according to a new report from Streaming Observer, Netflix blows past Hulu, HBO, and Amazon Prime in terms of the most Certified Fresh movies in its library.
Streaming Observer used Rotten Tomatoes to gauge the quality of films on the four streaming platforms, and found that while Amazon Prime reigns supreme in regards to quantity—it has more than 17,000 movies in its library as of January 2019—Netflix has the most Certified Fresh titles, meaning a score of 75 percent or higher based on a certain number of critical reviews.
And it doesn’t just edge out its competitors; according to the report, Netflix has 596 movies that are Certified Fresh in its library, whereas Amazon has 232, Hulu has 223, and HBO has just 38. It also notes that due to the number of movies in Amazon’s library, the fact that only 232 are Certified Fresh is quite jarring.
The report doesn’t differentiate between licensed movies and Netflix originals, and it’s fairly easy to game Rotten Tomatoes, at least in terms of audience reviews, but this data offers a counterpoint to the claim that Netflix’s library is lacking, something it might be trying to make up for with Oscar-nominated films like Roma.
It also reveals that Hulu, long a destination for TV shows, has started bulking up on better movies, putting it just behind Netflix.
