Netflix now better at original programming than HBO, according to viewer survey

Netflix is expected to spend as much as $2.5 billion on content in the U.S. alone this year.

Netflix has overtaken HBO as the best original content creator, according to a Morgan Stanley survey of American consumers.

The streaming service was picked by 29% of respondents (up from 23% last year), with HBO coming in second on 18% (down from 31% last year).

“This comes as we estimate that in 2016 Netflix will spend more on (original programming) than HBO for the first time,” the Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in the report. Netflix is expected to spend as much as $2.5 billion on content in the U.S. alone this year.

This comes in spite of the huge success HBO has had with Game of Thrones, which return in a couple of weeks.

Comparing perceptions of a streaming service’s content versus that of a TV network is of course problematic, however. Users are more likely to have a positive experience of Netflix originals, which they seek out the best of, whereas all of HBO’s slate is pretty visible due to traditional scheduling and people flicking through channels.

Netflix and HBO are both streets ahead of their competitors at any rate, with Showtime, Hulu and Amazon all being in the 4%-5% range in the study.

Netflix is holding its first festival in Paris this week, where we’ve been talking to talent from a number of key shows.