Sky Television has admitted to falling profits and subscription troubles, as New Zealand's television landscape continues to move in an online direction.

At the company's annual meeting, chairman Peter Macourt said profits will be down 11 per cent for 2016, subscriptions will drop after the Rugby World Cup and costs would continue to rise due to new technology like Neon and On Demand.

The dire news comes just weeks after Statistics New Zealand released data illustrating the uptake of online television services like Lightbox and Netflix.

Kiwis were using 143 per cent more data in June 2015 than in June 2013, the figures show.

New Zealanders consumed 84,000 terabytes of data in June this year, and that's excluding mobile phone data.

Households were accessing data that equates to around 27 hours of on-demand TV, or 11 hours of streamed HD video, a week.

"The greater availability of online streaming options, including subscription and non-subscription based services, has opened the door to content that often isn't broadcast in New Zealand," Statistics NZ business performance senior manager Jason Attewell said.

"Having access to more content has proved to be very popular – New Zealanders like to keep up with the rest of the world."

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'PEOPLE DON'T WANT TO WAIT'

Regan Cunliffe, editor of television commentary website Throng.co.nz, said New Zealand TV had a "conundrum" on its hands.

"Absolutely there's a huge shift to digital platforms," he said.

"For a lot of people, particularly early adopters, they have been wanting to get content faster than networks are willing to provide."

While he applauded moving to same-day broadcasting, airing shows like The Walking Dead on the same day they are released in the United States, he noted there was still a lot of illegal downloading happening.

"My assumption is it's become habitual, people have been doing it for ages, networks have tried to catch up but people have caught on," he said.

"People don't want to wait."

He warned that unless broadcasters were willing to adapt to online consumption, they would lose out to the more malleable streaming services that have sprung up..

"Networks trying to play catch up and in doing so are moving to On Demand, but even then you watch … and it's filled with advertising."

He predicts New Zealand television will see a steady decline in ratings.

That's contrary to Media research company Nielsen, which maintains the good ol' box is as popular as ever.

The company, which generates New Zealand's ratings figures, says traditional TV viewing via a set remains the most dominant form of video consumption in New Zealand, and that TV use is actually increasing.

The company released a report saying more than 3.5 million New Zealanders, or 92 per cent of the population, watch an average of 20.5 hours of broadcast television on TV sets each week.

About 97 per cent of households have a TV set, with 72 per cent of Kiwis watching video content solely on the set, four per cent watching TV only online, and 20 per cent who use both.

But Cunliffe said TV was nearing a tipping point.

"The numbers may be looking good right now but the future is eventually going to catch up on broadcast television."

REINVENT TO SURVIVE

He believed the key to survival was in TV reinventing itself.

He pointed to Netflix as the best online template, as the streaming services chooses to fund and create its own content, instead of solely than competing against other networks for rights to particular content.

Netflix has produced around 90 original shows, documentaries and specials to date, including award-winning series House of Cards and Orange is the New Black.

Ten new pieces of content will be released before the end of the year, with more than 40 confirmed to debut from 2016 onwards.

Cunliffe advised New Zealand television to take note and pair with Australian networks to fund original pieces of content for Australian and New Zealand audiences.

He predicted that in five years' time, those who were generating their own content and giving viewers a reason to commit to their service would be the ones surviving and thriving.

He's not talking the likes of The Block or My Kitchen Rules - those types of shows are falling in the ratings and Cunliffe thinks it's because there's a lack of originality and "poor casting choices".

Rather, focus on uniquely Kiwi stories, come up with a realistic budget, bystep NZ On Air funding rigmarole, put it online and give it a global audience, he says.

"Sky will never invest in anything like that. By the time they realise they do need to compete, it will be too late."