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Netflix now most popular choice for watching TV in US, study finds

Overtaking cable, broadcast, and all other streaming services

Jack Shepherd
Wednesday 04 July 2018 09:49 BST
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Netflix logo
Netflix logo

Over the last few years, Netflix has invaded our homes. The United States has proven a particularly ripe marketplace for the streaming service, reports last year claiming that over 50% of the country's adults have Netflix in their household.

A new survey, commissioned by Variety, has found that Netflix has now become the most popular platform for watching entertainment on TV, ahead of regular broadcast, YouTube, cable, and other streaming services.

The report explains how 2,500 adults were asked “Which platforms do you use most often to view video content on TV?” Netflix took the top spot with 27% of respondents naming the streaming service in their answer, followed closely by basic cable (20%), broadcast (18%), and YouTube (11%).

Looking at just 18 - 34 year olds, the gap between Netflix and the rest of the competition was even more drastic. Just under 40% of millennials answered Netflix, followed by Youtube (17%), basic cable (12.6%), Hulu (7.6%), and then broadcast (7.5%).

“Over the long term, assuming [Netflix] is able to continue to increasingly offer great content, this lead clearly bodes well for further value creation,” an analyst for Cowen & Co., who conducted the survey for the publication, said.

The Wall Street company also predict that Netflix will have spent around $13 billion (£9.84 billion) on content in 2018. The first half of the year has already seen the streaming service pump out 935 hours of US original programming.

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