Netflix not cannibalising linear TV, says new research

Subscribing to Netflix is not cannibalising the amount of linear television in TiVo households, according to new research from TiVo Research and Analytics (TRA).

In May 2013, TRA conducted a survey of 9,956 TiVo subscribers that had opted in to have their set-top-box viewing information collected, regarding subscription based over the top services and original programming.

TRA observed historical TV viewing data from those households from November 2012 through April 2013 across 28 of the most watched TV networks and benchmarked them against the 1.5 million TRA TV households.

As a result, the study found that there was no significant difference in the amount of traditional TV viewing between the self-reported Netflix and non-Netflix households, nor did either group differ from the overall TV viewing population.

Of the survey, 57% of respondents said that they subscribe to Netflix and 18% had watched House of Cards, while 50% reported that they subscribe to Amazon Prime and 18% to Hulu Plus. 8% subscribe to all three over the top services.

“Our data show that Netflix is not currently a substitute for traditional television, but offers a way for TV lovers to watch more of the kinds of programs they love,” said Mark Lieberman, CEO of TRA.

“The future of television may tell a different story, but as of today we’ve found that the Netflix subscribers in our study are not watching less traditional TV.”