Study: 40% Of Consumers Turn to Netflix For TV Shows

Earlier this month at CES, the Consumer Electronics Assocation (CEA) and the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) revealed how millennials prefer Netflix over traditional cable programming. Now, the two organizations have released the second part of their study, which found that 40% of consumers turn to Netflix to stream full-length TV shows before any other provider.

Beyond Netflix, 26% of respondents in CEA and NATPE’s study said their second go-to destination for streaming television series is YouTube, followed closely by the websites of major TV networks at 25%. Comparatively, only 12% of the surveyed consumers use network or service provider apps to watch TV.

The CEA/NATPE study also revealed how various age groups discover streaming content through different sources. Word-of-mouth is “very” or “somewhat important” to 77% of millennials (people between the ages of 13 to 34) and 79% of Gen Xers (ages 35-50). “Recommendation” features drive lots of TV show discoveries, too. Around 52%

of millennials say this source is very important to finding and watching new content, while 56% of SVOD subscribers overall say recommendations are vital for TV show discovery.

“If a great show is created but no one is there to see it, then what’s the point?” said NATPE President and CEO Rod Perth in the release. “It’s critical that we understand the path of content and new ways to market and reach audiences that have scores of new platform alternatives, so that programmers can maximize sampling and repeat viewership, as well as sustain the costs of production.”

The November 2014 survey commissioned by CEA and NAPTE was conducted by E-poll Market Research and surveyed 1,639 U.S. citizens aged 13-64 who all claimed to watch at least five hours of TV programming each week.