If Netflix were a Nielsen-rated TV network, the No. 1 streaming service would, within a year, attain a larger 24-hour audience than each of the major broadcast networks — ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC — according to a Wall Street analyst firm.
To be clear, the analysis by FBR Capital Markets is not apples-to-apples. One major caveat: Nielsen TV ratings cover, at most, up to seven days of VOD and DVR viewing — and exclude online-video views, which networks say are an increasing part of the pie. Moreover, TV networks provide a different blend of content, such as live sports, that Netflix doesn’t. And anyway, Netflix doesn’t care about “ratings” of individual shows, given that it doesn’t sell ads and has steadfastly refused to disclose anything but general data about viewing.
In addition, the FBR team noted that Netflix in 2015 is expected to spend nearly $2 billion on U.S. content rights (and about that much internationally). That would make Netflix’s U.S. content spending bigger than HBO, Showtime Networks or Starz, as well as Fox’s and Disney’s non-news/non-sports cable channels, according to the analysts, citing SNL Kagan data. But the broadcast nets, as well as Viacom and Turner Networks (excluding CNN), still spend more on programming rights in the U.S.
There’s no doubt Netflix will continue to flex its muscles — building on its 62 million-plus worldwide subscriber base as of the end of March. The only question is how much, and how quickly, the company will disrupt the current TV biz.
News Source: http://variety.com/2015/digital/news/netflix-viewing-abc-cbs-fox-nbc-1201527442/
To be clear, the analysis by FBR Capital Markets is not apples-to-apples. One major caveat: Nielsen TV ratings cover, at most, up to seven days of VOD and DVR viewing — and exclude online-video views, which networks say are an increasing part of the pie. Moreover, TV networks provide a different blend of content, such as live sports, that Netflix doesn’t. And anyway, Netflix doesn’t care about “ratings” of individual shows, given that it doesn’t sell ads and has steadfastly refused to disclose anything but general data about viewing.
In addition, the FBR team noted that Netflix in 2015 is expected to spend nearly $2 billion on U.S. content rights (and about that much internationally). That would make Netflix’s U.S. content spending bigger than HBO, Showtime Networks or Starz, as well as Fox’s and Disney’s non-news/non-sports cable channels, according to the analysts, citing SNL Kagan data. But the broadcast nets, as well as Viacom and Turner Networks (excluding CNN), still spend more on programming rights in the U.S.
There’s no doubt Netflix will continue to flex its muscles — building on its 62 million-plus worldwide subscriber base as of the end of March. The only question is how much, and how quickly, the company will disrupt the current TV biz.
News Source: http://variety.com/2015/digital/news/netflix-viewing-abc-cbs-fox-nbc-1201527442/