Light vs heavy: the tone of each streaming service
Some evenings call for something light, others for something that stays with you. We measured how the films and shows on each major service split between the two.
Updated
What we found
- In the UK, Disney+ has the lightest line-up (36% light, 15% heavy) and Prime Video the heaviest (40% heavy, 12% light).
- In the US, Disney+ has the lightest line-up (55% light, 3% heavy) and Prime Video the heaviest (48% heavy, 9% light).
UK: light and heavy titles by service
Lightest catalogue first, by average weightiness.
LightIn betweenHeavy
- Disney+36% light · 15% heavy · average 2.60
- NOW23% light · 33% heavy · average 3.08
- Channel 419% light · 34% heavy · average 3.13
- ITVX17% light · 31% heavy · average 3.17
- Netflix19% light · 35% heavy · average 3.20
- BBC iPlayer12% light · 38% heavy · average 3.38
- Prime Video12% light · 40% heavy · average 3.40
US: light and heavy titles by service
Lightest catalogue first, by average weightiness.
LightIn betweenHeavy
- Disney+55% light · 3% heavy · average 2.06
- Hulu12% light · 29% heavy · average 3.13
- Netflix18% light · 34% heavy · average 3.21
- HBO Max16% light · 32% heavy · average 3.22
- Paramount+13% light · 41% heavy · average 3.42
- Prime Video9% light · 48% heavy · average 3.56
How we worked this out
Weightiness is one of our ten attributes, scored 0 to 5 (higher is heavier: grief, war, moral weight). We call a title light below 2 and heavy above 4; the rest sit in between. Films and shows are counted together, documentaries and reality TV left out. Our pool is the best-known, best-rated films and shows in the Boxlist catalogue (at least 500 TMDB votes for a film, 150 for a show), so the figures describe that slice of each service, not its whole library. Availability counts subscription streaming only, not rental or purchase.
Scores and catalogue data as of 8 November 2026; streaming availability checked on 8 November 2026. Line-ups change, so check a title's page for where it streams today. How we score films and shows