Netflix the preferred TV viewing choice in U.S., survey reveals
When it comes to dominance in where American’s are watching a video, Netflix is the clear winner, according to a survey by the financial firm Cowen & Company.
The company asked 2,500 U.S. consumers “Which platforms do you use most often to view video content on TV?” Netflix came in first at 27 percent, followed by basic cable at 20 percent, broadcast TV at 18 percent and YouTube at 11 percent
Among adults ages 18 to 34, the margin was even bigger with 40 percent favoring Netflix with the next-most-viewed, YouTube, at 17 percent, basic cable at 12.6 percent, Hulu with 7.65 percent and broadcast TV far back at 7.5 percent.
When cord-cutters were eliminated from the survey, basic cable came out on top, at 26 percent with Netflix at 24 percent. For those who subscribe to a traditional TV package, basic cable was the top response at 26 percent, followed by Netflix with 24 percent and broadcast TV with 19 percent
The survey “highlights the importance of Netflix in the home, particularly among millennials,” wrote Cowen & Co. senior research analyst John Blackledge.
Blackledge said he expects Netflix to report 1.2 million new U.S. subscribers and 5 million internationally in the second quarter when it discloses quarterly earnings on July 16. He said the quarter would be paced by “an increasingly robust original content slate,” with 452 hours of original programming, up 51 percent from the same quarter a year ago.
“Netflix continues to ramp its original content offering, including local originals in many international markets,” Blackledge wrote. “Owning a leading international content production footprint and ramping relationships across the talent ecosystem should prove beneficial to Netflix’s ability to increase production in those markets, much of which is produced at a lower cost than similar content produced in Hollywood.”