Skip to main content

Netflix is causing us to watch less TV, study reports

Americans are spending less time with their eyes glued to a television screen, but that doesn’t actually mean they’re watching less … television. It’s a classic example of semantics trumping reality: While TV viewership went down 3 percent last year, a new study suggests that people aren’t trading in this time to be one with nature or engage in some other physically stimulating activity. Instead, they’re watching Netflix.

As per a report from Michael Nathanson of MoffettNathanson, Netflix was responsible for around 50 percent of the overall drop-off in TV viewing time in the U.S. In fact, American Netflix subscribers are estimated to have streamed a stunning 29 billion hours of video in 2015, whereas the global Netflix community managed to binge on a total of 42.5 billion hours.

Recommended Videos

And this past year’s data, Nathanson says, isn’t an outlier. Rather, it represents a trend showing Netflix’s (and other streaming services’) increasing popularity. By 2020, the analyst says, streaming hours will account for 14 percent of all TV viewing. And while this is a burgeoning figure, he notes, it doesn’t mean that Netflix will render the television set and major broadcast channels entirely obsolete.

“Currently, Netflix is a source of industry pain, but not necessarily a cause of industry death,” he wrote in his study.

But television executives are certainly none too happy about this particular pain point. As Variety points out, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes compared Netflix to the Albanian army last year, and further noted that Time Warner was considering “delaying the SVOD [streaming video on demand] licensing window for some of its content as it evaluates the best monetization options in a fast-changing TV landscape.”

This is interesting given that Time Warner is not, in fact, one of the companies suffering as a result of Netflix’s growth. In fact, the total viewership of Time Warner, Scripps Networks Interactive, AMC Networks, and Discovery Communications actually went up in 2015. That was not the case for all networks — A&E saw a 15-percent drop in viewing hours, Viacom declined 13 percent, and both NBCUniversal and Disney were down by 5 percent.

That said, for households that are Netflix subscribers, TV viewership did indeed take a hit. Netflix subscribers watched CBS 42 percent less than non-subscribers, Fox took a similar 35-percent hit, ABC a 32-percent hit, and NBC a 27-percent hit.

Variety does point out one caveat: the analysis of television viewership does not include online and mobile viewing of TV networks, but whereas these numbers are adjusted for co-viewing, Netflix’s data is taken per household. And as Variety reports, “according to Nathanson, that means Netflix per-person viewing is underrepresented relative to Nielsen Live+7; thus, the analyst assumes the two factors largely cancel each other out.”

So sure, parents. Your kids (and you) may be watching less TV. But you might have gone out of the frying pan and into the fire with this one.

Lulu Chang
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
3 underrated Netflix shows you should watch this weekend (June 27-29)
Four hormone monsters stand on the sidewalk in Big Mouth.

Choosing a new show can be a joyful experience, but only if you have a good sense of what you like to watch. If you're someone who struggles to pick new shows, then finding something worth watching on Netflix can be a deeply painful experience.

If you want to avoid that pain, we've got you covered. We've selected three underrated or forgotten shows on Netflix that are well worth checking out, and each of them comes from a pretty different genre.

Read more
3 underrated Netflix movies you should watch this weekend (June 27-29)
Benedict Cumberbatch in The Power of The Dog

Netflix is one of the definitive sources of entertainment for modern moviegoers. Even if you know you want to watch something on Netflix, actually choosing a title can be more complicated than it sounds. The algorithm can't possibly surface everything on the surface, which can lead you to choose from a subset of what's actually available.

We've pulled together a list of three underrated titles that are all worth your time and consideration. Check them out below:

Read more
5 movies leaving Netflix in June 2025 you have to watch now
Danny Ocean stands with his crew in Ocean's Eleven.

What’s on tap for Netflix in June? Squid Game returns for a third and final season. Will Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) finally shut the game down once and for all? For movies, Tyler Perry’s Straw has remained in the top 10 for almost the entire month.

While those two programs will remain on Netflix for the foreseeable future, a good chunk of movies will be departing from the service at the end of the month. One of those movies is Dune: Part Two, the second part of a sci-fi epic. Find out more about Dune: Part Two and other movies below. 

Read more