Netflix Makes Up Over 30% of Peak Internet Traffic

[Fanghawk]

Netflix Makes Up Over 30% of Peak Internet Traffic

Netflix and streaming services are dominating internet traffic while piracy-focused file-sharing programs are used less and less.

Netflix is currently the go-to service for movie and television streaming, but only recently have we started realizing how significant that change is. According to a report from by Sandvine, for example, the streaming website now accounts for 34% of peak internet traffic. More importantly, its meteoric rise has created a new demographic that Sandvine calls "cord cutters", users who are likely drop traditional television packages for online-only streaming. These cord cutters only make up 15% of internet users, but on the whole account for 54% of all internet traffic, peak hours or otherwise.

Netflix's staggering online presence isn't in itself new information; in fact, that figure has grown by only 2% since 2013. What's truly significant is the behavior of cord cutters on the internet. These users download approximately 212 GB each month, translating to roughly 100 hours of viewable content. More importantly, most of this viewing seems to come from legitimate sources; use of file-sharing services and P2P programs dropped to 8.1% of internet traffic from 31% in 2008. In other words, simply offering legal alternatives to piracy was enough for the internet to embrace them wholeheartedly. Who would have thought?

Outside of the data on Netflix, there are several interesting statistics to consider. Sports fans are turning to streaming services as much as anyone else, with the World Cup predicted to take 40% of Latin American mobile network traffic. Meanwhile, Snapchat currently generates more activity in North America than any other third-party messaging app, while Twitch is one of the top 15 applications featured across fixed networks. Sure, this data will probably be more useful to marketers than the average internet user, but it's fascinating to see how online entertainment is changing nonetheless.

Source: Sandvine, via <a href=http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Netflix+share+peak+Internet+traffic+rises+cent+North+America/9837981/story.html>Vancouver Sun

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[seris]

The only thing i watch on TV these days is adventure time and regular show. I have netflix but i would use it more often if their library was updated with new movies and episodes more often

 

[Jandau]

And now, as information such as this starts to ooze down to the corporate world and penetrate the shells luddite autism surrounding most CEOs of relevant companies, we can expect to see a wonderful shift in content deliv... oh who am I kidding - as soon as the leeches realize that there's money to be made we can expect them to default to their opening question for any new situation: "Can get a slice of that pie without actually doing any work."

Oh, what was that? They're already doing that with the whole "Let's abolish net neutrality!" thing? Well, that didn't take long...

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

In other words, simply offering legal alternatives to piracy was enough for the internet to embrace them wholeheartedly. Who would have thought?

Anyone who doesn't expect to be handed money and servants for life, just because they're a record label/TV/movie/game executive.

 

[razer17]

When someone offers a reasonable online sports channel, TV will be dead to me. If I can watch sports online along with Netflix and Crunchyroll, I'll have no need for a TV, other than hooking my console up to it.

 

[marioandsonic]

When someone offers a reasonable online sports channel, TV will be dead to me. If I can watch sports online along with Netflix and Crunchyroll, I'll have no need for a TV, other than hooking my console up to it.

This. Hell, I can listen to any MLB game I want all season long for just $20. Why not let me watch them, too?

Also, don't forget that most TV screens nowadays can also double as a computer screen if you connect it so.

 

[flarty]

Looks like Gabe Newell was right, piracy is a service problem.

 

[Tradjus]

Sort of destroys the argument that the media industries have been using.
"Oh, people are just thieves at heart and will steal our products if they get the chance!"
Turns out if you give them a reasonable method to obtain your products with as little hassle as possible..
GASP!
They'll use it!!! D:

 

[Geekeric]

I wonder how much of that is YouTube? Has YouTube gone down since the ads have become more obnoxious? I think people are just sick of wasting their time watching ads. Television is a dead medium. Will I be banned for bashing ads?

 

[uchytjes]

I wonder how much of that is YouTube? Has YouTube gone down since the ads have become more obnoxious? I think people are just sick of wasting their time watching ads. Television is a dead medium. Will I be banned for bashing ads?

I think youtube should have a subscription based system on a per-channel or even per-network basis. For instance, I watch a lot of stuff from the Polaris network of channels, so if I wanted I could pay them, say, $5 a month to get all channels under them addless. Or, if I didn't want all that I could pay $1 a month on my most frequent channels, that way I don't have to watch ads and the channel I subscribed to gets more money from me than if I just watched ads.

 

[Strazdas]

you know it would make up more internet traffic if it was actually available in countries with fastest internet possible. but no, netflix is not going to do that, because it would be impossible to convince the copyright holders to agree to it. they would respond "but these countries have a lot of pirates". well you know why we got so many pirates? because there is no legal way to buy your stuff, silly. and not everyone wants to wait a month and pay half their months wage to get a dvd shipped across europe.

 

[doxydejour]

Cheap monthly fee + no advertisements + full seasons to binge on a good session = perfect night in.

 

[fenrizz]

Looks like Gabe Newell was right, piracy is a service problem.

Indeed.
That's what a lot of us has been saying for years, but we've always been brushed of with accusations of only finding bad excuses/justification.

This goes to show that if you offer a convenient, reasonably priced service then people have no problem paying for it.
I think a lot of companies have severly underestimated the dramatic effect high speed internet has had on the consumption of media.

I wonder how much of that is YouTube? Has YouTube gone down since the ads have become more obnoxious? I think people are just sick of wasting their time watching ads. Television is a dead medium. Will I be banned for bashing ads?

I've almost completely stopped using youtube at this point.
Don't care for ads, and I have spotify.

 

[Baldr]

I wonder how much of that is YouTube? Has YouTube gone down since the ads have become more obnoxious? I think people are just sick of wasting their time watching ads. Television is a dead medium. Will I be banned for bashing ads?

Youtube accounts for 18-19%, Netflix 32-33%, so together they are half the internet traffic. Then Amazon, Facebook, Hulu, Apple(iTunes), and a couple other companies and less than 10 companies represent more than 80% of the traffic. I agree with Mozilla, separate the companies from consumers and let them pay for infrastructure.