Netflix Dominates Peak-Time Video Traffic

NetflixNetflix may be hitting more than a few bumps on the road -- but from a pure bandwidth share of video it is still way ahead of other video sites.

Netflix now accounts for 32.7% share of peak time video traffic -- this from a new survey by Sandvine, a bandwidth management company. This is up from Netflix's 20% share of U.S. bandwidth consumption, according to a Sandvine 2010 study.

Sandvine says "peak" time period demand is a two-hour evening period -- 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Overall streaming video represents 60% of all peak downstream bandwidth use.

YouTube was in a distant second place in the current study -- 11.3% of "peak" traffic. But YouTube is still way ahead in other areas. The survey says the majority of broadband users -- 83% -- click on YouTube compared with 20% that utilize Netflix.

Major differences between Netflix and YouTube: Netflix users spend 77% of the time watching its videos from a TV-connected device; 20% of viewing is on a PC; and 3% is on a mobile device. The numbers are virtually opposite that on YouTube. There is an 83% usage of YouTube on computers; 10% on mobile and 7% on connected TVs.

Overall, 55% of streaming video traffic comes via game consoles, set-top boxes, broadband-connected TVs and mobile devices in the home; 45% comes from desktop and laptop computers.

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