Netflix has crossed a milestone this month. It has passed the billion hour mark for the first time ever in company history during the month of June. The feat was announced on CEO Reed Hasting’s Facebook page.. This accomplishment definitely shows the growing popularity of streaming services such as Netflix as opposed to using traditional cable TV. Netflix hit the 2 billion mark in Q4 of 2011 over the period of 3 months.
According to GigaOM, BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield took it upon himself to break down the Facebook post and reveal some interesting info. He estimated that Netflix had around 24 million subscribers in June, which means that on average, each user watched 80 minutes of content daily during the month of June. Those numbers easily compete with many cable channels, which we don’t have the viewership numbers for yet, but based on Mr. Greenfield’s research, Netflix would be the most popular cable channel if it was one. Another impressive note is that even in households with cable, Netflix still beat out ABC and CBS according to Greenfield.
Expect tensions to rise among Netflix and the cable channels as many cable believe that streaming services such as Netflix are killing their viewership, and according to these numbers they definitely are. Hasting expects Netflix to continue to pass the 1 billion mark when Arrested Development and When House of Cards debut.
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