More People Use Streaming Services Than Have Cable Subscriptions; Study Finds

Internet video services are more popular than cable, according to a May study from Fluent LLC. that was reported by eMarketer. Fluent, a data and marketing company, found that 67% of U.S. internet users watch TV via a streaming service, a la Netflix Inc. , Hulu and Amazon.com Inc. , while 61% have cable subscriptions at home. Millennials, age 18 to 34, used streaming services at a higher rate and Netflix was the most popular service among them. According to the study, 77% of millennials said they use streaming services vs. 57% who have cable at home -- there's some cross over of people subscribing to both. For people aged 35 and older it was a more even split, with 65% using streaming services and 62% subscribing to cable. Of the streaming services, Netflix was the most popular, with 48% of all respondents saying they use the service. Amazon and Hulu -- a joint venture by Comcast Corp. , Walt Disney Co. , 21st Century Fox Inc. and Time Warner Inc. , were tied with 16%, followed by Alphabet Inc.-owned YouTube Red's 11% share and HBO being popular among 10% of survey respondents. More than 34% of people said low cost was the main factor in opting for a streaming service and for millennials the convenience of watching whenever and wherever was important for 29% of them, while 21% of nonmillennials said the same. And original content, which has been of increasing importance for companies, was a deciding factor for 18% of all respondents. Only 7% were interested in syndicated content.