Press Release Entertainment Study 2025

DraftKings Makes Royal Debut in Online Sports Betting and iGaming Industry, While Bluesky Receives Highest Social Media Score Ever, ACSI Data Show

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (July 22, 2025) — According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI®) Entertainment Study 2025, video streaming stumbles 1% to a score of 78 (on a 100-point scale). Social media (74) and subscription TV (70) are unchanged, and online sports betting and iGaming debuts with an ACSI score of 76.

While satisfaction with digital entertainment is mostly steady, these industries must find new ways to add value and variety to keep customers happy in an uncertain economy.

“Right now, we face a critical inflection point across digital entertainment and betting platforms,” says Forrest Morgeson, Associate Professor of Marketing at Michigan State University and Director of Research Emeritus at the ACSI. “Consumers are no longer just seeking services. They’re demanding comprehensive, intuitive experiences that respect their time and wallet. The winners in this increasingly competitive environment will be the ones who can seamlessly integrate technological innovation, personalized engagement, and clear value propositions.”

Paramount+, Peacock, and YouTube Premium share video streaming lead

Three brands — Paramount+, Peacock, and YouTube Premium — sit atop the video streaming industry with scores of 80 apiece. The former improves 3% year over year, while the latter two are unchanged. All three leading platforms receive strong scores for overall quality and value.

Last year’s leader Amazon Prime Video slides 4% to meet Netflix (unchanged) at 79. HBO Max (unchanged) and Hulu (down 1%) are next at 78 each, followed by three platforms with scores of 77: Apple TV+ (down 3%), Hulu + Live TV (unchanged), and YouTube TV (up 1%).

ESPN+ tumbles 8% to 69, finishing last. While it exclusively offers sports content, its catalog is limited, especially compared to platforms that pair live sports with original programming and full libraries. It only offers limited NFL coverage, and MLB will be done on the platform after the 2025 season.

Along with the overall drop in industry satisfaction, all aspects of the customer experience show small declines or no change. Mobile app quality remains the highest-rated aspect of the customer experience despite slipping from 86 to 85. The range of sports programming is the lowest-rated metric by a wide 5-point margin.

“As streaming price increases surpass inflation, brands must manage the dynamic between the quality of their service and its cost,” adds Morgeson. “In an already saturated market, video streaming services will need to find a balance between preserving a broad appeal and offering a unique experience at a price point that resonates with both old and new subscribers.”

The device matters … and so does optionality

ACSI finds that the device consumers use for streaming impacts the overall experience. Consumers that use a smart TV or a dedicated streaming device are the most satisfied with scores of 80. The least satisfied are smart TV box users at 74.

Additionally, many consumers subscribe to both video streaming and traditional subscription TV — and these cord-stackers are the most satisfied at 80. Cord-cutters, who have given up subscription TV, follow with an ACSI score of 79.

Verizon Fios maintains stronghold on subscription TV

While several brands show significant movement, both positive and negative, the top of the leaderboard remains unaffected.

Verizon Fios decisively defends its number-one spot with an ACSI score of 78, widening its lead following a 4% year-over-year improvement. Spectrum posts the largest gain, jumping 5% to second place among the reported brands at 69, while Xtream tumbles 7% to a score of 62, sharing last place with Optimum (unchanged).

Like video streaming, all customer experience metrics for the subscription TV industry decline or remain stagnant. Picture quality and mobile app quality top the list at 81 apiece. Call center satisfaction is dead last, unchanged at 68. Customer service metrics like the courtesy and helpfulness of staff and the speed of transaction are among those that experience multipoint declines.

DraftKings wears the online sports betting and iGaming crown

DraftKings (78) edges out BetMGM (77) and FanDuel (76) in the industry’s inaugural measurement. These three operators have put a modest gap between themselves and ESPN BET and Fanatics, each scoring 73. Caesars, the final reported brand, finishes last with a score of 69.

Mobile app quality tops the list of customer experience benchmarks at 80 — which shouldn’t be surprising considering online sports betting and casino games rely heavily on the mobile user experience. Several other fundamentals — mobile app reliability, privacy, and ease of navigation — are just a point lower at 79 apiece.

In an industry poised for exponential growth, operators are battling to find ways of providing an engaging experience with high-tech resources, access to valuable information, personalization, and helpful tools. New AI integrations that assist players in their wagering strategies and the option to use cryptocurrencies for payment, for instance, are just some of the ways companies are trying to differentiate themselves and bring in more users.

Bluesky makes a big statement in the social media space

Bluesky debuts with the highest ACSI score ever recorded in the social media industry at 82. It leads second-place Pinterest (up 5%) and YouTube (up 1%) by 4 points.

The fact that Bluesky has not yet introduced ads certainly works in its favor. The decentralized platform has so far maintained its “friendlier” reputation with users despite the inevitable moderation issues that accompany massive influxes of users.

One of the other newcomers, Nextdoor, finishes at the other end of the spectrum with a score of 64. It trails the next lowest-rated sites, Facebook and Truth Social, by 6 points. Although Nextdoor can be a great place to organize neighborhood events or find a sitter, it can also become a platform for neighborhood squabbles and intrusive advertising.

Several brands outside of Pinterest show substantial satisfaction gains this year, Snapchat and X each jump 6% to 72 and 73, respectively. Pinterest’s efforts to improve both personalization and its user interface are helping secure a new demographic of young users. Snapchat’s gain comes from usability improvements to its platform and a return to its messaging and picture-sharing roots. X’s improvement is driven in part by changes to the composition of its user base after many left for Bluesky.

Contrary to other industries covered in this study, several customer experience metrics improve for social media. Despite ranking at the bottom of the list, ad-related metrics account for much of the positive momentum, alongside key usability metrics. Privacy, relevance of content, and ease of uploading and editing photos and videos are among the metrics that decline. Moving forward, social media networks should focus on finding a balance between ads, targeted content, and user-selected content while increasing perceptions of privacy.

The ACSI Entertainment Study 2025 is based on 24,879 completed surveys. For the subscription TV and video streaming industries, customers were chosen at random and contacted via email between April 2024 and June 2025. For online sports betting and iGaming, customers were contacted between November 2024 and June 2025, while social media users were contacted between July 2024 and June 2025. Download the full study and follow the ACSI on LinkedIn and X at @theACSI.

No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the data and information in this release without the express prior written consent of ACSI LLC. 

About the ACSI

The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI®) has been a national economic indicator for over 25 years. It measures and analyzes customer satisfaction with approximately 400 companies in about 40 industries and 10 economic sectors, including various services of federal and local government agencies. Reported on a scale of 0 to 100, scores are based on data from interviews with roughly 200,000 customers annually. For more information, visit theacsi.org.

ACSI and its logo are Registered Marks of American Customer Satisfaction Index LLC.