Streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, and Hulu appear to be the culprit, as traditional live television viewing numbers saw more than a 12 percent year-over-year drop in January.
GigaOM reports that Nomura Research analyst Anthony DiClemente wrote that based on recent numbers from the Nielsen Service showing live TV viewing numbers as down 12.7 percent indicate that this was “one of the worst declines we have seen since we launched coverage of these companies.”
DiClemente pointed a finger at the streaming video services as the reason for the drop: “Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, and Hulu, continue to siphon viewers away from linear TV,” he said.
Some networks were hit harder than others, as Viacom’s MTV and Nickelodeon networks saw a 23 percent decline when compared to January 2014, while Disney only saw a rating decline for its networks of 7.5 percent, thanks to ESPN’s continued great ratings.
Indicative of the move to streaming content, Netflix’s own numbers show that its subscribers watch an average of 90 minutes of Netflix programming every day.
A Forrester survey that polled a panel of 4,709 individuals in the US, found just 46% of respondents between the ages of 18 and 88 years old watched live TV in a typical month.
While a small majority of Generation X and Baby Boomers reported watching live TV, that average was dragged down by millennials viewing habits.
These numbers include viewers that consumed their content via live TV, DVRs, streaming services, and pay-per-view.
