Well, we saw this coming: The explosive, cord-cutting popularity of Netflix will finally torch the laurels of traditional broadcast television networks. Analysts predict that if Netflix were measured as a 24-hour station by Nielsen, it would have more viewers than ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox within the year.


There is some fine print to that bold-faced news. The prediction comes from analysis by Wall Street research firm FBR Capital Markets and depend on Nielsen’s high specific form of ratings. Variety explains why this is relevant:

Nielsen TV ratings cover, at most, up to seven days of VOD and DVR viewing — and exclude online-video views, which networks say are an increasing part of the pie. Moreover, TV networks provide a different blend of content, such as live sports, that Netflix doesn’t.


But still! The idea that Netflix is the network just got a lot more convincing. We already knew that the streaming video (slash DVD-by-mail) company was gobbling up about a third of all traffic on the internet. Now we know that the Big Red Giant is even closer to total world domination than we thought.

[Variety]