UPDATE: HBO, Showtime and Starz have refuted the study released this week by NPD Group, who has temporarily pulled the study in order to double check the study’s results. The three premium channels responded to the study this week, saying that their subscriber numbers have actually increased over the past few years.
Read more at TheWrap.
Netflix might be slowly chipping away at Showtime and HBO subscriber numbers.
Though there’s no proof of a growing trend, a new report from researcher NPD Group suggests that more consumers are choosing to pay for Web video sites rather than premium pay-TV like Showtime, HBO or Starz.
Between March 2012 and August 2013, the number of U.S. households subscribing to premium channels decreased 6 percent, while households with Netflix or other streaming services, like Amazon Prime Instant Video or Hulu Plus, increased 4 percent.
While the data does not prove the two changes are related, and Netflix might not be replacing these services, the report shows that premium pay-TV channels are losing subscribers and NPD says it might be fair to link that to the growing choices in video services such as Netflix. According to NPD analyst Russ Crupnick, “As SVOD increasingly strives to become a channel itself, viewers might consider it to be an adequate substitution for other premium channels, or perhaps they are switching to economize on their time and money spent.”
Read more at Variety.
Brief Take: Netflix has long been a threat to pay-TV and cable providers, but it’s the premium channels that stand to lose big if subscribers choose to wait to watch their premium shows until they arrive on streaming sites, opting to pay for video sites instead.
[Image courtesy of Netflix]
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