Netflix continues to have a major impact on TV viewing -- its viewing hours, in relation to traditional TV viewing, are now double the number of a year ago. There were 10 billion hours streamed for
Netflix against 129.5 billion hours for traditional linear TV viewing in the quarter.
MoffettNathanson Research says Netflix’s comparative size within the traditional TV linear market,
in terms of quarterly viewing hours, was just under 6% for the first quarter of 2015 -- 10 billion hours streamed for Netflix against 129.5 billion hours traditional linear TV viewing in the
quarter.
Traditional TV linear viewing in the first quarter of 2015 was down 5% versus a year ago, when the Sochi Winter Olympics impacted viewing in the first quarter of 2014. Taking out the
Olympics means a slightly better 3.5% decline, according to MoffettNathanson.
Researchers project that in five years, Netflix total quarterly viewing will represent 11.7% of traditional linear
TV viewing. Estimates from MoffettNathanson for quarterly traditional TV viewing say that it will sink to 117.6 billion hours in the first quarter of 2019 from 129.5 billion hours in the first quarter
of 2015.
In addition to Netflix, two major factors also contributed to traditional TV viewing decline, the report says. The two other major SVOD (subscription-video-on-demand) players in the
marketplace, Amazon and Hulu, represent a third of SVOD subscriptions and unmeasured viewing, including tablet usage.
Netflix has currently some 40 million U.S. subscribers (62 million
globally), up 17% over a year ago. MoffettNathanson estimates another 11% gain next year with slower growth rates to follow -- with Netflix reaching 56.2 million by the first quarter of 2019.