Netflix Now Accounts for 36.5% of Peak Internet Traffic A new analysis of Internet data indicates that Netflix now accounts for 36.5% of Internet traffic in North America during peak usage hours. According to the latest Sandvine breakdown of user behavior, the sharp climb in Netflix usage continues to coincide, rather un-coincidentally, with a notable drop in BitTorrent traffic. BitTorrent now accounts for 6.3% of total traffic in North America, and 8.5% in Latin America, notes the hardware vendor.

The study notes that YouTube comprised 15.6% of peak downstream Internet traffic, while web browsing was 6%, Facebook 2.7%, Amazon Instant Video 2.0% and Hulu 1.9%. Sling TV accounted for less than 1% of peak downstream traffic. According to Sandvine, during the season five premiere of "Game of Thrones," HBO’s two streaming properties (HBOGO and HBONOW) accounted for 4.1% of traffic on one US fixed network; an increase of over 300% of their average levels. HBO Now currently sees just 0.7% of peak total downstream traffic, likely due to the fact it's a new offering only exclusively being offered by Cablevision and Apple. Another notable bump in traffic occurred during Activision’s March 31 release of the "Ascendance" DLC for "Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare," which accounted for 12% of Internet traffic on one North American fixed network on that date, said the report. On the audio front, Sandvine notes that Pandora radio continues to lead in bandwidth share, consuming 3.47% of peak downstream traffic. That's followed by Spotify (1.03%), SoundCloud (0.76%), iHeartRadio (0.68%) and Deezer (0.58%). On the audio front, Sandvine notes that Pandora radio continues to lead in bandwidth share, consuming 3.47% of peak downstream traffic. That's followed by Spotify (1.03%), SoundCloud (0.76%), iHeartRadio (0.68%) and Deezer (0.58%).







News Jump California Defends Its Net Neutrality Law; AT&T's Traffic Up 20% Despite Data Traffic Actually Being Down; + more news Are The Comcast-Charter X1 Talks Dead In The Water?; AT&T May Offer Phone Plans With Ads For Discounts; + more news Europe's Top Court: Net Neutrality Rules Bar Zero Rating; ViacomCBS To Rebrand CBS All Access As Paramount+; + more news Verizon To Buy Reseller TracFone For $7B; 5G Not The Competitive Threat To Cable Many Thought It Would Be; + more news MS.Wants Records From AT&T On $300M Project; Google Fiber Outages In Austin, Houston, Other Texan Cities; + more news States With The Biggest Decreases In Speed; AT&T Hopes You'll Forget Its Fight Against Accurate Maps; + more news AT&T's CEO Has A Familiar $olution To US Broadband Woes; EarthLink Files Suit Against Charter; + more news 5G Doesn't Live Up To Hype, AT&T's 5G Slower Than Its 4G; Cord-Cutting Now In 37% of Broadband Households; + more news FCC Cited False Broadband Data Despite Warnings; ZTE, Huawei Replacement Cost Is $1.87B, But Only $1B Allocated; + more Cogeco Rejects Altice USA's Atlantic Broadband Bid; AT&T Is Astroturfing The FCC In Support Of Trump Attack; + more news ---------------------- this week last week most discussed view:

topics flat nest brianiscool

join:2000-08-16

Tampa, FL brianiscool Member Netflix is funny! Whenever I think about going back to cable. I go onto my Netflix account and start streaming. Then I say to myself why on earth would I ever pay $100 extra for cable? sandman_1

join:2011-04-23

11111 sandman_1 Member Re: Netflix is funny! And commercials!



My kids are watching content without commercials pretty much. I relish in the thought that these cable co's are screwed because they will never probably ever have cabletv. brianiscool

join:2000-08-16

Tampa, FL brianiscool Member Re: Netflix is funny! I use Roku, so if I get bored of Netflix I have all of my Youtube subscriptions and thousands of other free channels. ISurfTooMuch

join:2007-04-23

Tuscaloosa, AL ISurfTooMuch to sandman_1

Member to sandman_1

The funny thing is that, back when cable was starting to take off, it was pitched as a service that would have far fewer commercials than broadcast TV, since your monthly fee was going toward keeping commercials off these cable channels.



Yeah, that worked out well.



And, as much as people think they're getting screwed, they should look at what channels people in other countries get for free, or almost for free. Look at Freeview/Freesat in the UK, as well as what's available on European FTA satellites. Yes, part of the cost of the uK services comes from a license fee, but that's still far lower than cable, and the BBC has no commercials. Here, much of what would be FTA in Europe costs money to get. Not only are we getting screwed, but we're getting screwed more than many people know. zod5000

join:2003-10-21

Victoria, BC ·TELUS

·Shaw

zod5000 Member Re: Netflix is funny! I agree. It's crazy how the industry has developed in North America. They are asking a fortune for people to buy channels that are 1/3rd commercials. They want people to pay through the nose for commercials.



I understand why. TV channels used to get the majority of their revenue from advertising. The higher the ratings the more money they could ask for. TV ratings have massively declined over the past 10 or so years (since the Internet really took off). That started to hurt their bottom line and they started asking for subscription revenue from the cableco's (who previously were able to get the channels for next to nothing). They also increased the amount of ads to make up for the lost revenue (Watching old star trek episodes on Bluray I was surprised the episodes were well over 50 minutes!).



Now were stuck taking it on both ends. The fee's are high and we're stuck with more commercials. If it weren't for Live Sports I wouldn't bother with Cable (and I'm currently working on a solution for that).



They're creating the demise of their own industry. At some point they're going to need to get costs under control and deal with the commericials issue.



I'm Gen X and I refuse to watch commercials (except for live sports). I can't imagine the Millenials are going to be any more excited to watch them than I am. IluvMoney (banned)

join:2015-05-04

MiddleClass IluvMoney (banned) Member Re: Netflix is funny! said by zod5000: They are asking a fortune for people to buy channels that are 1/3rd commercials. They want people to pay through the nose for commercials. DVR'ing shows and fast forwarding has killed this way of getting money to content creators from their sponsor's commercials. So they are charging for the shows as well as the commercials. The next step by sponsors is coming soon - embedded commercial endorsements in to the shows content. Ultimately there is no way around having to pay for all the overpaid actors and sports athletes in today's content. YOU WILL PAY or not watch content at all. Kearnstd

Space Elf

Premium Member

join:2002-01-22

Mullica Hill, NJ 1 recommendation Kearnstd Premium Member Re: Netflix is funny! said by IluvMoney: said by zod5000: They are asking a fortune for people to buy channels that are 1/3rd commercials. They want people to pay through the nose for commercials. DVR'ing shows and fast forwarding has killed this way of getting money to content creators from their sponsor's commercials. So they are charging for the shows as well as the commercials. The next step by sponsors is coming soon - embedded commercial endorsements in to the shows content. Ultimately there is no way around having to pay for all the overpaid actors and sports athletes in today's content. YOU WILL PAY or not watch content at all.



Also the industry brought lots of this on themselves, One reason for the DVR other than the upside of never fumbling for a tape again and being simple enough for a 12 o'Clock flasher to figure out is that the sheer volume of ads was increasing before people used DVRs. But hey at least unlike the internet(where ads are infection routes), TV ads do not yet deliver a free malware in every channel unless you block em. I am honestly surprised that we do not have more embedding already, Because it can be done seamlessly and not intrusive.Also the industry brought lots of this on themselves, One reason for the DVR other than the upside of never fumbling for a tape again and being simple enough for a 12 o'Clock flasher to figure out is that the sheer volume of ads was increasing before people used DVRs. But hey at least unlike the internet(where ads are infection routes), TV ads do not yet deliver a free malware in every channel unless you block em.

RRedline

Rated R

Premium Member

join:2002-05-15

USA RRedline Premium Member Re: Netflix is funny! said by Kearnstd: I am honestly surprised that we do not have more embedding already, Because it can be done seamlessly and not intrusive. Oh it's coming, and it most certainly WILL be intrusive. At least with DVR'ed content, you can fast-forward through them, but software is going to prevent people from skipping commercials in streamed content in the near future.

C0deZer0

Oc'D To Rhythm And Police

Premium Member

join:2001-10-03

Tempe, AZ 121.4 9.8

C0deZer0 Premium Member Re: Netflix is funny! said by RRedline: said by Kearnstd: I am honestly surprised that we do not have more embedding already, Because it can be done seamlessly and not intrusive. Oh it's coming, and it most certainly WILL be intrusive. At least with DVR'ed content, you can fast-forward through them, but software is going to prevent people from skipping commercials in streamed content in the near future. And this is one reason why if I ever was going to have a TV sub again, it would be with a cablecard tuner and then just stream across the network. AckAck

join:2011-06-02 81.7 124.3

AckAck to RRedline

Member to RRedline

It's already here. My wife and I have made it a game to call out "Shameless plug" whenever we spot one, like when the camera zooms in on the dash while the actor uses some new whiz bang feature on their new car, or how much they love their new Ford with Synch, and how easy it is to use.



Sometimes it is subtle, and sometimes it is obvious. But it has been here for a while. Kearnstd

Space Elf

Premium Member

join:2002-01-22

Mullica Hill, NJ Kearnstd Premium Member Re: Netflix is funny! CSI Miami and the hummers... I will just leave that there for the non subtle version.



While the Stargate TV shows and Dell Laptops is subtle, They never mention the brand. But the logo is there clear as day, And in setting its completely believable because the program is operated by the USAF and Dell does do contracting with the government for PC leasing/purchasing.

ipv6movement

@pppoe.ca ipv6movement to AckAck

Anon to AckAck

said by AckAck: It's already here. My wife and I have made it a game to call out "Shameless plug" whenever we spot one, like when the camera zooms in on the dash while the actor uses some new whiz bang feature on their new car, or how much they love their new Ford with Synch, and how easy it is to use.



Sometimes it is subtle, and sometimes it is obvious. But it has been here for a while. Product placement and commercials are two completely different things. I couldn't care less about product placement. I do care about commercials.

battleop

join:2005-09-28

00000 battleop to ISurfTooMuch

Member to ISurfTooMuch

Eventually Netflix will cave into advertising. Probably not with their current leadership but somewhere down the road leadership will change hands and the new "visionary" leader will lead the charge to increased revenue. ISurfTooMuch

join:2007-04-23

Tuscaloosa, AL ISurfTooMuch Member Re: Netflix is funny! said by battleop: Eventually Netflix will cave into advertising. Probably not with their current leadership but somewhere down the road leadership will change hands and the new "visionary" leader will lead the charge to increased revenue. I wouldn't be surprised. It'll ultimately kill the service or at least reduce its profitability, but, in the short term, revenue will increase, and the short term is all management can think about these days. Investors simply won't permit anything else.

battleop

join:2005-09-28

00000 battleop Member Re: Netflix is funny! It will be damaging only if there is a decent alternative that's as easy to use as Netflix is. mknieri

join:2003-11-07

Gilberts, IL mknieri to battleop

Member to battleop

People are already paying a streaming service, Hulu, to watch commercials. Netflix will have commercials eventually, agree with you Probably only ones for their own shows and content they create at first but eventually they'll have more.

battleop

join:2005-09-28

00000 battleop Member Re: Netflix is funny! I'm OK with ads that might lead me to finding a new series I would have otherwise not known about. I just don't think that they will get it right and will play the same damn insurance commercial 20 times an hour.

C0deZer0

Oc'D To Rhythm And Police

Premium Member

join:2001-10-03

Tempe, AZ 121.4 9.8

C0deZer0 Premium Member Re: Netflix is funny! said by battleop: I'm OK with ads that might lead me to finding a new series I would have otherwise not known about. I just don't think that they will get it right and will play the same damn insurance commercial 20 times an hour. It'll be the "enlarge your pen15" all over again.

buzz_4_20

join:2003-09-20

Biddeford, ME buzz_4_20 to battleop

Member to battleop

When they do they will instantly lose a ton of customers.

Corehhi

join:2002-01-28

Bluffton, SC Corehhi Member Re: Netflix is funny! said by buzz_4_20: When they do they will instantly lose a ton of customers. The usual accountant way is if you can increase revenue by 20% and lose 10% of your customers it's a net gain of 10%. That's when hopefully someone Amazon or someone like that goes for the customer count and tries to kill off NetFlix. We're no where near that end of the curve right now.

ipv6movement

@pppoe.ca ipv6movement to battleop

Anon to battleop

said by battleop: Eventually Netflix will cave into advertising. Probably not with their current leadership but somewhere down the road leadership will change hands and the new "visionary" leader will lead the charge to increased revenue. The day that happens is the day they'll lose 50% of their customers right off the bat.

Corehhi

join:2002-01-28

Bluffton, SC Corehhi to battleop

Member to battleop

said by battleop: Eventually Netflix will cave into advertising. Probably not with their current leadership but somewhere down the road leadership will change hands and the new "visionary" leader will lead the charge to increased revenue. Growth will stop, founders will retire off and a new CEO who is an accountant will coming in. That's where NetFlix will become crap, "we're going to squeeze every dollar we can out of this". Pretty mush how all these companies go, the original guy with the idea and then he gets old, the bean counters show up.

battleop

join:2005-09-28

00000 battleop Member Re: Netflix is funny! That seems to be the way no matter what the industry is.

ipv6movement

@pppoe.ca ipv6movement Anon Re: Netflix is funny! said by battleop: That seems to be the way no matter what the industry is. That's when the company tanks and goes under. Kearnstd

Space Elf

Premium Member

join:2002-01-22

Mullica Hill, NJ Kearnstd to ISurfTooMuch

Premium Member to ISurfTooMuch

said by ISurfTooMuch: The funny thing is that, back when cable was starting to take off, it was pitched as a service that would have far fewer commercials than broadcast TV, since your monthly fee was going toward keeping commercials off these cable channels.



Yeah, that worked out well.



And, as much as people think they're getting screwed, they should look at what channels people in other countries get for free, or almost for free. Look at Freeview/Freesat in the UK, as well as what's available on European FTA satellites. Yes, part of the cost of the uK services comes from a license fee, but that's still far lower than cable, and the BBC has no commercials. Here, much of what would be FTA in Europe costs money to get. Not only are we getting screwed, but we're getting screwed more than many people know. Not only that but if you like informational programs, the BBC still makes some of the highest quality documentaries available. All the channels here in the US that once held a similar position to the informational potential that the BBC still retains have all converted to reality TV with the exception of PBS. ISurfTooMuch

join:2007-04-23

Tuscaloosa, AL ISurfTooMuch Member Re: Netflix is funny! Yep. Even BBC America bears little resemblance to the real BBC.



If the BBC was smart, they'd exit the BBC America partnership and simply offer a subscription to their live feeds for anyone here that wanted them. There may be some shows they couldn't air here because they don't own the rights, but they could insert other BBC programs into those timeslots. Kearnstd

Space Elf

Premium Member

join:2002-01-22

Mullica Hill, NJ Kearnstd Premium Member Re: Netflix is funny! said by ISurfTooMuch: Yep. Even BBC America bears little resemblance to the real BBC.



If the BBC was smart, they'd exit the BBC America partnership and simply offer a subscription to their live feeds for anyone here that wanted them. There may be some shows they couldn't air here because they don't own the rights, but they could insert other BBC programs into those timeslots.



For now you are stuck with VPNs and iPlayer. The issue is how the BBC works, In the UK the real BBC is funded by the TV license. Legally that BBC cannot make a profit, So they have to operate BBC Worldwide to actually legally sell content outside the UK. it is a very complex thing, But I know that at least with current UK laws for how the BBC must operate they could not just let you subscribe to the normal BBC feeds.For now you are stuck with VPNs and iPlayer. ISurfTooMuch

join:2007-04-23

Tuscaloosa, AL ISurfTooMuch Member Re: Netflix is funny! I've been trying to figure out how to do a VPN that would allow me to get iPlayer on my Roku or at least on a second Roku, if switching back and forth between countries would confuse the first one. My router doesn't have a built-in VPN client.

C0deZer0

Oc'D To Rhythm And Police

Premium Member

join:2001-10-03

Tempe, AZ 121.4 9.8

C0deZer0 to Kearnstd

Premium Member to Kearnstd

And yet the BBC then steals the entire UK populations' license fees and cans Top Gear, which - albeit their most expensive - was their highest-rated, and most-awarded show in the history of their network.



If I were living in Londontown, that alone would prompt me to never renew the license fee again. There is simply nothing else on the network worth watching, and between Netflix and (hopefully) WWE Network, there's really near-nothing on live TV anymore that I'd want to watch.

ipv6movement

@pppoe.ca ipv6movement Anon Re: Netflix is funny! said by C0deZer0: And yet the BBC then steals the entire UK populations' license fees and cans Top Gear, which - albeit their most expensive - was their highest-rated, and most-awarded show in the history of their network. There is no stealing involved. Top Gear is their most coveted licensed program. They make good money off of it. WhatNow

Premium Member

join:2009-05-06

Charlotte, NC WhatNow to ISurfTooMuch

Premium Member to ISurfTooMuch

BBC is commercial free there but BBCAmerica has commercials. When in Rome do as the Romans.

buzz_4_20

join:2003-09-20

Biddeford, ME buzz_4_20 to sandman_1

Member to sandman_1

Indeed... my kids are very rarely exposed to ads. There's an adblocker on my router and I won't pay for any service that contains ads.



Whenever we are subjected to broadcast TV now, you can just see how shallow and button pushing they are.

Majestik

World Traveler

Premium Member

join:2001-05-11

Tulsa, OK 1 edit Majestik to brianiscool

Premium Member to brianiscool

Don't miss cable TV at all and after canceling Cox hsi last year I don't miss that either. And that $1800 or more in savings per year goes into my emergency fund or Roth 401k.

I've saved and invested over $20k since I've cut the cord and now pay less than $15/mo. for my ala cart commercial free intertainment.



-

The adventure continues...Sanctuary....

maartena

Elmo

Premium Member

join:2002-05-10

Orange, CA maartena to brianiscool

Premium Member to brianiscool

said by brianiscool: Whenever I think about going back to cable. I go onto my Netflix account and start streaming. Then I say to myself why on earth would I ever pay $100 extra for cable?



1) Sports. If you want live sports, you pretty much need cable.

2) You want your series NOW. Not 6 months to a year from now...no... NOW!!



If you don't like sports, and you don't care if the final season of Mad Men isn't on Netflix for another year and you will watch it then.... you can save a lot of money. If either 1) or 2) isn't an issue..... you are basically spending $100 a month for.... well....nothing. I've come to two reasons:1) Sports. If you want live sports, you pretty much need cable.2) You want your series NOW. Not 6 months to a year from now...no... NOW!!If you don't like sports, and you don't care if the final season of Mad Men isn't on Netflix for another year and you will watch it then.... you can save a lot of money. If either 1) or 2) isn't an issue..... you are basically spending $100 a month for.... well....nothing.

dolphins

Clean Up Our Oceans

Premium Member

join:2001-08-22

Westville, NJ dolphins Premium Member Finally consumers get some payback Comcast has been a thorn in my side for the last year. It's nice to see them losing the battle to dominate the market. Yes, I am a Netflix subscriber.

bockbock

@hcs.net 1 recommendation bockbock Anon Remember the days... When Kazaa, WinMX and Limewire were rocking the internet? 10-15 years ago the majority of the aggregate bandwidth on the internet was people downloading mp3s and DVD rips through P2P piracy. Now, with Netflix, Pandora, iHeart and Hulu, it is becoming rarer.

maartena

Elmo

Premium Member

join:2002-05-10

Orange, CA maartena Premium Member Re: Remember the days... said by bockbock : When Kazaa, WinMX and Limewire were rocking the internet? 10-15 years ago the majority of the aggregate bandwidth on the internet was people downloading mp3s and DVD rips through P2P piracy. Now, with Netflix, Pandora, iHeart and Hulu, it is becoming rarer.



I used to pirate music all the time, I don't bother anymore. iTunes has got me covered, and I have a Pandora account as well which I use at work on my PC, and in the car through my phone.



Regarding piracy traffic however, I don't think it has gone down. The average size of a movie, however, has. We used to download DivX movies that were the exact size of a CD (700MB), so you could burn them on CD and a DivX capable player could play them. Fast-forward 10 years from 2005 to 2015, and people aren't really using physical media anymore, but have a computer somewhere with loads of stuff on it, and are using some sort of device to stream it from there. Movie sizes are now 4-9GB in 1080p Bluray quality.



Also, Bittorrent has made the downloading of movies incredibly easy, and there are some projects (such as PopcornTime) that basically turn a dedicated player into an illegal Netflix.



This all said, I think Netflix is definitely a popular legal alternative and has made me switch from "I will download that movie" to "I will wait till it is on Netflix or Amazon". And iTunes.I used to pirate music all the time, I don't bother anymore. iTunes has got me covered, and I have a Pandora account as well which I use at work on my PC, and in the car through my phone.Regarding piracy traffic however, I don't think it has gone down. The average size of a movie, however, has. We used to download DivX movies that were the exact size of a CD (700MB), so you could burn them on CD and a DivX capable player could play them. Fast-forward 10 years from 2005 to 2015, and people aren't really using physical media anymore, but have a computer somewhere with loads of stuff on it, and are using some sort of device to stream it from there. Movie sizes are now 4-9GB in 1080p Bluray quality.Also, Bittorrent has made the downloading of movies incredibly easy, and there are some projects (such as PopcornTime) that basically turn a dedicated player into an illegal Netflix.This all said, I think Netflix is definitely a popular legal alternative and has made me switch from "I will download that movie" to "I will wait till it is on Netflix or Amazon". maartena maartena Premium Member Cord Cutting is real. This proves partially that cord cutting is a real thing. And if most of the traffic isn't actually from cord cutters, but from people that have Netflix in ADDITION to a cable subscription.... cable execs should start to shit their pants because this number could very well mean that a lot of people are THINKING about dropping their cable sub.



36% is a HUGE amount of Netflix viewing that is going on, and obviously the people who watched all that video didn't watch that video from cable TV....



The only reason to drop $100 per month on cable instead of $20 a month for 3 streaming services.... is sports. And even that is slowly starting to change, if you just want ESPN a sub to SlingTV might be worth the $20 by itself.

buzz_4_20

join:2003-09-20

Biddeford, ME buzz_4_20 Member So... why are ISPs so reluctant to get a Netflix Caching Server? Seriously... the cost of the rackspace and electricity has to be less than the total bandwidth used.

•••• show 4 replies

Titus

Mr Gradenko

join:2004-06-26 Titus Member Cable will be down to an over-65 demo while Netflix is 70% of Inet traffic and the Cable Droid will still be sputtering and drooling that cord-cutting is all hype. JoeSchmoe007

Premium Member

join:2003-01-19

Brooklyn, NY JoeSchmoe007 Premium Member I am really surprized Amazon Video is so far behind I have both (NF and Amazon Prime) and use both about the same amount. Plus on Amazon I can also order latest movies and shows on demand (pay-per-view).

Paul416

Premium Member

join:2003-07-25

Brampton, ON Paul416 Premium Member Not to bad but Netflix isn't to bad for the price but there still other places on the net which is better LOL your comment..

