OREANDA-NEWS. Streaming video service used to be a nice add-on to your home entertainment bundle. Now, it's an essential part.

The US video streaming market is worth $6.62 billion, with 85 percent of broadband households boasting at least one subscription -- levels on par with traditional cable, according to market research firm Strategy Analytics. While its 22 percent year-over-year growth seems impressive, the firm notes it's the first time the rate of growth has slowed, suggesting we're close to saturation.

The numbers underscore the easy observation that streaming video services are in the mainstream, with hits shows such as Netflix's "House of Cards" and Amazon's "Transparent" gaining critical, commercial and water cooler success. Netflix leads the way with 53 percent of the subscriptions, compared with 25 percent for Amazon Prime Video and 13 percent for Hulu. Nearly 40 percent of households surveyed subscribe to at least two services.