Your Netflix subscription may be saving you from nearly 160 hours of commercials a year

By Stephanie Topacio Long May 11, 2016

netflix streaming commercial hours behind the screens 110815 2 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Netflix offers more than just a socially acceptable way to invite someone over for a hookup. The streaming service — among its other benefits — also prevents us from having to suffer through those pesky commercials we face in droves when we watch traditional television. By streaming Netflix instead of turning to cable, we save ourselves hours upon hours of ad time.

The actual figure depends on your own streaming habits, but Cordcutting.com now estimates that the number is nearly 160 hours of commercials a year. The figure is based two key pieces of data: the fact that Netflix has 75 million members and that subscribers stream 125 million hours of content each day, according to Netflix’s CES 2016 Keynote, as reported by The Verge. Cordcutting.com calculated the average amount of time members spend viewing Netflix per day (roughly 1.67 hours), and then used the number of minutes of commercials included in an hour of cable TV (15.63 minutes), as reported by Nielsen, to arrive at the final number.

Our individual Netflix-watching time varies, of course. Some of us veer toward the Brooklyn man who managed a 94-hour binge, while still others only stream occasionally. Nonetheless, the 160-hour figure is telling. It illustrates a powerful reason why consumers are increasingly turning away from traditional cable in favor of Netflix and other streaming services.

Consumers could choose to do a lot of things with 160 hours, and presumably, few (if any) would opt to use that time on commercials. More likely, they’d rather watch additional TV shows or movies, or elect to engage in other pastimes. Netflix and other ad-free streamers are forcing TV networks to face this reality.

Fortunately for viewers, the message seems to be getting through. NBC, for example, recently announced that it would cut back on commercial breaks during the upcoming season of Saturday Night Live. Others are also making adjustments, so start thinking about what you want to do with all that extra time.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Stephanie Topacio Long

Contributor

Stephanie Topacio Long is a writer and editor whose writing interests range from business to books. She also contributes to…

Entertainment

This obscure 2024 sci-fi alien show is now a big Netflix hit. Here’s why you need to watch it

Promo art for Parasyte: The Grey.

It may be spring, but it's also alien invasion season on Netflix. And while 3 Body Problem deals with that premise in a very high-concept way, it's been unseated from the top of the list of Netflix's most popular shows by a new South Korean series called Parasyte: The Grey.

Parasyte: The Grey is based on the popular manga by Hitoshi Iwaaki, which has previously been adapted as an anime series and two live-action movies in Japan. But you don't need to know anything about those to enjoy Parasyte: The Grey. This is a separate story that features its own characters, and it's clearly catching on with fans around the world. That's why we're sharing three reasons why you should watch Parasyte: The Grey on Netflix.
It's the story of a girl and her alien

Entertainment

Netflix’s most addictive movie of 2024 is now streaming. Here’s why you need to watch it

A man aims his camera in Scoop.

Thrillers come in all shapes and sizes. There's the psychological or serial killer thriller, which was popularized in the '90s by The Silence of the Lambs and Se7en. There's the erotic thriller, which had its heyday in the late '80s and early '90s with such hits as Fatal Attraction and Basic Instinct. And then there's the action thriller, which is probably the most popular offshoot of the genre right now, with the Taken series and Salt as prime examples.

Recently, there's been a revival of a subgenre that's been dormant since the 1970s: the journalism thriller. From Nightcrawler with Jake Gyllenhaal to the Oscar-winning Spotlight to 2022's She Said, this type of thriller usually centers around journalists pursuing a controversial and sometimes dangerous story. One of the best journalism thrillers has just been released by Netflix: Scoop. In chronicling how the BBC managed to snag the scoop of the decade by interviewing Prince Andrew about his connections to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the movie manages to be suspenseful, informative, and one of 2024's most purely entertaining films.
The story everyone is after

Entertainment

If you have to watch one Netflix movie in April, stream this one

A man and a woman lay next to each other in L.A. Confidential.

One of the perks of keeping your Netflix subscription up to date is that you get automatic access to everything new that the streamer releases on a weekly basis. And, indeed, Netflix tries to make sure that there’s something for everyone on the service, from high-brow movies to undeniably compelling reality TV. In addition to all of the original content that Netflix releases, though, the streamer also has archival titles that were released years or even decades before Netflix existed. If you’ve made your way through all of the original content, or you’re finding that none of it seems like a good choice, then L.A. Confidential might be exactly what you’re looking for.

Released in 1997, the movie is set in 1950s Los Angeles and follows three different cops who all interact with the criminal empire emerging in the city. Here are three reasons why you should definitely check it out:
It features an incredible cast
James Cromwell, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce and Kevin Spacey in publicity portrait for the film 'L.A. Confidential', 1997. (Photo by Warner Brothers/Getty Images) Warner Bros.