A research study has reported that Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) has a significant impact on how Americans Watch TV and has been the major reason Americans have been watching less TV.
The report which was presented by Michael Nathanson of MoffettNathanson claims TV watching has decreased by 3% over the past year. People are instead shifting their attention the content streaming platform provided by the company. The report also suggests that Netflix is responsible for about 50% of the overall decline in the TV viewership culture in the US. It also estimates that Americans streamed about 29 billion hours of video last year while the company’s global users watched 42.5 billion hours of content on the streaming platform.
Nathanson stated that the numbers were an indicator that Netflix and other streaming services are growing in popularity. He further added that streaming hours will add up to 14% of TV viewing by 2020, but this does not mean streaming content providers will render cable TV companies obsolete. Nevertheless, Netflix has proven to be quite influential in the TV industry.
Some TV companies such as Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC) are contemplating ideas to counter the competition, and one of the major strategies involves coming up with their own video on demand streaming services. Nonetheless, Time Warner does not exactly view Netflix as a threat because viewership in some of its networks including Discovery Communications, AMC Networks, and Scripps Networks Interactive has been on the rise.
Some of the companies that registered declining popularity include Viacom, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAB) WITH A 13% decline, A&E with a 15% decline while Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) and NBCUniversal dropped by 5%. Households with Netflix subscriptions watched less cable TV. The study did not take into account the number of TV viewers that watch television networks using mobile devices and streaming websites. Netflix data was however taken from households only to even out the playing field. Therefore, there is a definite impact on TV watching habits from popular content streaming services.