It was only a matter of time, but now analysts say that Netflix's viewership numbers will exceed those of the major broadcast networks by 2016.
Of course, Netflix isn't a Nielsen-rated service, but after doing math and figuring out what a rating for Netflix based on its current subscriber base and how often they watch the service, these analysts agreed that the streaming service would get a larger audience in 24 hours than ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC.
There is still the possibility that the numbers are wrong, though. Nielsen ratings are still limited to live viewership and video on demand and DVR viewing seven days after a series airs. Nielsen numbers don't include online viewership at all (which is why many see Nielsen ratings as archaic).
There's also the problem of Netflix not really giving up a lot of its data, mostly because it doesn't have to. Sure, the subscription service has made claims about how popular its original series are, such as House of Cards and Orange is the New Black, but comparing those shows to series aired on the major networks is difficult.
However, the math done by these analysts seems solid. They looked at how many hours users watched Netflix during the first quarter of 2015, divided that by 24 hours and multiplied it by how many U.S. households have Netflix subscriptions. And the numbers showed that if Netflix did have Nielsen ratings, the service competed about equally with the major broadcast networks.
But here's the thing: Netflix keeps growing, so by 2016, according to the numbers, this means that Netflix's ratings would increase, meaning that the service's viewership was greater than any of the major networks.
There's another thing, too: when asked about choosing between Netflix and a cable or satellite subscription, consumers picked Netflix 57 percent of the time. That's probably because cable and satellite cost around $80 per month, with Netflix only costing $8 per month.
"Netflix subscribers clearly like it more than pay TV, which we see as arguing for pricing leverage, since pay TV, on average, costs over $80 per month," wrote the analysts.
It makes sense, when choosing between $80 and $8, it's a no-brainer: Netflix offers a lot of content for a very inexpensive price. And over that, Netflix does not serve advertising with its content.
Of course, when it comes to current episodes of TV series, Netflix still falls behind Hulu's subscription service, as we pointed out in a recent article. But Netflix offers a lot of bang for the buck, and its original series' production values (and budgets) are as good (if not better) than what we're seeing on the premium cable channels, such as HBO and Showtime.
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