Boost for Web video services
Netf lix and the like have been attracting more subscribers.
Netflix Inc. and other online subscription services have been logging gains even as people are canceling HBO, Showtime and other premium TV channels, according to a new report from researcher NPD Group.
The number of U.S. households subscribing to a premium pay-TV channel such as HBO has fallen 6% in the last two years, while subscribers to Netflix and other digital services have grown 4%, NPD found.
NPD’s report on subscription video on demand is another sign of changing viewer behavior in the digital age.
It comes at a time when cable, satellite and phone companies offering video have been losing subscribers.
“It’s fair to say … that some of the shift that you’re seeing is probably caused by Netflix,” said Russ Crupnick, a senior vice president of NPD Group. “Some of this could be caused by the economy. It could be people looking at their cable bills and saying, ‘ I can’t afford this.’ ”
About one-third of American homes paid to watch HBO, Showtime or other premium TV channels in August 2013, while 27% now subscribe to digital ondemand video services such as Netflix, Hulu Plus or Am- azon Prime.
Viewers increasingly are gravitating to on-demand offerings when it comes time to watch movies or TV shows.
Seven out of 10 times, they’re using Netf lix, HBO Go or a similar on-demand feature from their cable or satellite providers instead of buying or renting a movie or TV show from retailers such as Apple Inc.’s iTunes, WalMart Stores Inc.’s Vudu or Redbox Automated Retail, NPD found.
NPD’s findings are based on its analysis of 450,000 consumer transactions and its surveys of 7,500 people.