Netflix subscribers overtake DVR users in US

Most loved brands in the UK: Everyone loves Netflix (except Gen Z)

More US households now have the Netflix streaming service than a digital video recorder, according to a recent study.

The study, from Leichtman Research, indicates that 54% of U.S. adults said they have Netflix in their household, while 53% have a DVR.

The findings mark the first time that households with Netflix (including those that use shared accounts) have surpassed the level of those with a DVR in the history of LRG’s studies.

In 2011, according to the research firm, 44% of TV households had a DVR and 28% had Netflix.

These findings are based on a survey of 1,211 households throughout the United States, and are part of LRG’s study, On-Demand TV XV. This is LRG’s fifteenth annual study on this topic.

Other related findings include:

  • 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

    • “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,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc. “Yet traditional TV viewing still exists. For example, 46% of adults agree that they often flip through channels to see what’s on TV.”

    Source: www.LeichtmanResearch.com.

    Methodology
    On-Demand TV XV is based on a survey of 1,211 adults ages 18+ from throughout the continental US in households with a TV set. The random sample of respondents was distributed and weighted to best reflect the demographic and geographic make-up of the US. The telephone survey (including landline and cell phone calls) was conducted in January 2017. The overall sample has a statistical margin of error of +/- 2.8%.