The Coronavirus has had a major negative impact on the economy and the entertainment industry. Studios have halted productions, delayed film releases, and even canceled performances. As the country is stuck at home in isolation, with nothing to do but sit and binge-watch, these last two weeks have become streaming's best days so far, especially for Netflix and HBO.

Netflix's Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos has said that viewing is up and that people are definitely watching a lot more. HBO has released numbers that also showed a grow in viewership, and could be used as a standard when analyzing the impact the coronavirus has had on streaming traffic overall.

HBO is seeing a major increase in viewership

HBO just published a piece on Medium, that showed an increase in TV viewership by 20 percent from a four week average. During the coronavirus "Westworld," third season premiered, fans are now turning to "Game of Thrones," and "His Dark Materials," which both saw an increase in 50 percent gains in viewership. HBO said that viewership of three or more episodes in a day skyrocketed by 60 percent.

Streamers including Disney Plus and Netflix, have reduced their video quality to keep the internet from crashing. The data in the world of streaming viewerships is a guarded secret, so alternative methods need to be seen in order to judge the coronavirus' impact on Amazon, Disney Plus, Hulu and others.

Netflix appearing in more searches now

Forbes did an analysis and released a report that shows a sudden increase of paying members. Between March 14, and March 16, 2020, Disney Plus signups tripled compare to the week before. While it's still a limited view, it's still a massive increase. Netflix seems to be struggling service as they only saw a 47 percent increase, HBO and Showtime rocketed.

Not much has changed at Apple TV+.

Forbes also analyzed search data, and discovered that search traffic jumped for Disney Plus, HBO Go, Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime over the past month. Forbes noticed that Apple TV+ had its search traffic dropped 14 percent. However, as cinemas and other traditional forms of entertainment feel the wrath of the coronavirus pandemic, streaming TV is taking over the couchbound entertainment.

The streaming increases may cause serious changes to the industry.

Disney's streaming success continues, as the rest of Disney feels the pain of the coronavirus: the suspension of film and tv productions, movie release delays including its tentpole "Black Widow," and the closure of Disney resorts all over the globe, and the lack of sports for its ESPN lineup. Disney also just released "Frozen II," to their streaming platform to draw in the crowds.
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