Netflix dominates the downstream of fixed U.S. ISP networks, this fact is already known to all. Now new data from GfK provides a completely different angle on the impact that the streaming firm has on consumer viewing behavior, says a report from Multichannel.
More users viewing Netflix on mobile devices
Netflix’s monthly or “regular” U.S. users make use of the service to watch 10 shows and four movies per week, GfK found. The number of shows has almost doubled from last year, GfK learned in a study titled “Over the Top TV 2015: A Complete Video Landscape.”
“Projected to the full population, this means that the average US consumer ages 13 to 54 watches roughly 5 TV shows and 2 movies per week via Netflix using one or more platforms,” the company said.
One of the prominent findings of the GfK study was that in the last three years, viewing Netflix on mobile devices has more than doubled. This year, 24% of regular users admitted that they viewed the service on mobile platforms compared to only 10% three years ago. Almost a quarter of regular Netflix users admitted to binge-watching, which means watching three or more shows in one sitting, either always or most of the time.
TV and PC viewing also up
Monthly viewing on TVs and PCs has also risen among the same group. For TVs, it has increased from 36% to 47%, while for PCs, it has gone up to 25% from 17%.
Talking about the findings, GfK’s SVP of media entertainment, David Tice, said that Netflix is a TV ecosystem in itself and an “established force” in the total marketplace now. Tice believes the over-the-top (OTT) picture is becoming increasingly complex, and Netflix represents just one aspect of it. Subscription services such as Amazon Prime and Hulu, delivery hardware such as Roku and Apple TV, and “threatened incumbents” cable and satellite companies are all included in the OTT picture.
OTT is clearly going mainstream, but at the same time, it is a source of confusion for some as well. Three-fourths of people who said that they had HBO’s new standalone OTT subscription offering, HBO Now, actually had HBO Go, which is the network’s authenticated TVE service, the report said.
