Commentary
YouTube Gains On Netflix In OTT
- by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, April 10, 2017
Nowadays when people talk about over-the-top Internet-based TV, most are probably still referring to Netflix, the video-on-demand service so ubiquitous it gave rise to its own leisure activity/euphemism, “Netflix & chill.” And while Netflix still rules the roost, its main social media competitor is catching up fast, according to new data from comScore, which shows OTT viewers watching YouTube (as well as other OTT services) more often.
Overall households with access to OTT tend to be heavy users of the service, comScore found: among the 49 million U.S. homes that used at least one OTT service in December 2016, average consumption was 2.2 hours of OTT video per day, with OTT viewing sessions on an average 19 days out of the month.
Turning to specific providers, Netflix reached 75% of homes using OTT in December 2016, and was viewed on 12 days per month on average. Meanwhile YouTube reached 53% of OTT households, which viewed it on eight days per month. Further down the totem pole, Amazon Video reached 33% of OTT households and was viewed six days on average.
Interestingly, some smaller competitors rack up even more robust engagement stats. Thus, while Hulu is used by “just” 17% of OTT households, it exceeds Amazon and YouTube with an average of nine days of viewing per month. And Sling TV, with single-digit penetration of OTT households, generates 11 viewing days and 47 hours of viewing per month, ahead of Netflix with 28 hours.
ComScore also points out that there is a substantial amount of exclusivity between OTT audiences. For example, among OTT households that watch YouTube, 30% don’t subscribe to Netflix, making them “unduplicated” viewers. Similarly, 24% of Amazon Video viewers don’t subscribe to Netflix, along with 18% of Sling viewers and 13% of Hulu users.
The Google-owned video hub is bolstering its offerings, including more deals with professional video producers. Back in February YouTube unveiled a new OTT streaming, with 40 cable networks streaming live for a subscription price of $35 per month, including ESPN, Disney and others.
Erik Sass is editor of Publishers Daily. You can reach Erik at eriksass@gmail.com.
Some really bad stats for Netflix according to comScore. So, according to the data, only 41-42% of all 118 million TV homes used any OTT service in December 2016 and, of these, 75%---or only 31% of all TV homes----used Netflix. The average Netflix using home devoted 28 hours per month to its content, which, projected against all 118 million TV homes works out to 8.7 hours per month----but this, in effect, is device usage, not a viewing per resident figure. That cuts it down to about 4.5 hours a month against all adults or roughly 9-10 minutes per day. Based on streaming claims and other information, we have credited Netflix with about twice this viewing time on a per- capita basis---or, roughly 20 minutes per day for the average adult. If comScore's data is correct---and we eagerly await Nielsen's findings on this subject----Netflix may not be the 800- pound gorrila that everyone assumes it is. Perhaps a 400- pound gorrila is more like it.