Americans do love their TVs. Among the 118 million or so U.S. households with a TV, the average number of TVs per household is about three. More than half of TV households have either a subscription to Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) or a digital video recorder (DVR) or both. The stunning detail is that 54% of U.S. households have a Netflix subscription, compared with 53% with a DVR.
This is the first time that Netflix subscriptions have topped DVRs in the Leichtman Research Group’s (LRG’s) 15 years of conducting the survey. In 2011 44% of TV households had a DVR and 28% had a Netflix subscription.
In the latest survey, 82% of U.S. TV households have a Netflix subscription, a DVR, or use the video on-demand (VOD) service from their cable or telecom provider. Some 30% of households use two of these services and 14% use all three.
Bruce Leichtman, LRG’s president and principal analyst said:
On-Demand and time shifting TV services like DVR, VOD and Netflix have permanently changed the way that people can watch TV. Today, over 50% of households have a DVR and, for the first time in the fifteen years of this study, over half of households have Netflix. Yet traditional TV viewing still exists. For example, 46% of adults agree that they often flip through channels to see what’s on TV.
Other related finds in the survey include the following:
- 64% of households get a subscription video on-Demand (SVOD) service from Netflix, Amazon Prime, and/or Hulu — 51% of all adults stream any of these services on a monthly basis
- 23% of all adults stream Netflix daily — compared to 6% in 2011
- 81% of Netflix streaming users watch Netflix on a TV set
- 64% of pay-TV subscribers have a DVR — compared to 49% in 2011
- 60% of DVR households have DVR on more than one TV — compared to 33% in 2011
- 65% of all cable and Telco video subscribers have used VOD from their current provider
- 58% of all cable subscribers used VOD in the past month — compared to 42% in 2011
It’s Your Money, Your Future—Own It (sponsor)
Are you ahead, or behind on retirement? For families with more than $500,000 saved for retirement, finding a financial advisor who puts your interest first can be the difference, and today it’s easier than ever. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three fiduciary financial advisors who serve your area in minutes. Each advisor has been carefully vetted and must act in your best interests. Start your search now.
If you’ve saved and built a substantial nest egg for you and your family, don’t delay; get started right here and help your retirement dreams become a retirement reality.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
Our expert who first called NVIDIA in 2009 is predicting 2025 will see a historic AI breakthrough.
You can follow him investing $500,000 of his own money on our top AI stocks for free.