Be the change you want to see in the world—especially if that change is getting rid of cable, because it’s incredibly painless at this point. It’s never been more practical to go without traditional TV packages with services like Netflix, Hulu, and HBO Now, and the tides are shifting: an analysis shows that Netflix is poised to have more viewers than any of the big TV networks by 2016.
That’s according to a report by FBR Capital Markets, who say that if the perennial destroyer of Nielsen TV ratings were actually measured by them, it would likely eclipse networks like CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox some time this year. Of course, no one has highlighted better than Netflix (and other streaming services) how dumb Nielsen ratings are with standard TV networks hemorrhaging great shows to their online competition, so this should all be taken with a grain of salt, but it’s still comforting to see Netflix beat the cable guys at their own game.
Variety reports that the fancy math the FBR analysts used showed that, based on Netflix’s general data about how much content their customers consume, the ‘net network is already neck-and-neck with ABC and NBC’s 2.6 Nielsen rating for Q1 of 2015. But they also pointed out that cable providers increasingly offer their content online through their own sites, which would be additional audience not accounted for by their ratings.
But when FBR asked consumers if they’d rather lose cable or Netflix, 57% of them were totally cool with getting rid of cable altogether. Add that to the fact that Netflix is spending billions on content rights over the course of 2015—expected to total more than premium networks like HBO—and any caveats to the analysis look pretty unimportant to the big picture, and that picture will be brought to you by Netflix.
(via Variety)
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