James R | On 29, Oct 2015

How much do you watch on Netflix every week? A new study from the US suggests that American subscribers watch an average of 10 shows per week.

The study from GfK found that the amount of TV of watched had doubled from three years ago, with users also streaming four movies during the same time-frame.

The survey’s results, if extrapolated, suggest that the average US consumer aged between 13 and 54 watches roughly 5 TV shows and 2 movies per week via Netflix using one or more platforms.

The findings are a rare insight into possible viewing figures for Netflix, which are traditionally a closely guarded secret, even for film-makers with content on the site. One of the rare times the VOD giant has revealed data was in the first quarter of 2015, when CEO Reed Hastings confirmed that members had streamed 10 billion hours of original content in three months – an average of 160 hours per member over the quarter, or 53 hours per month. Combined with third-party content too, it’s possible that viewing of TV shows on Netflix could extend to the amount proposed by GfK.

One shift that is easier to identify, though, is watching Netflix on mobile devices. 24 per cent of regular Netflix users report viewing on a mobile platform in the past month – more than double the 10 per cent recorded three years ago. Monthly viewing on TVs, though, has also risen from 36 per cent to 47 per cent, as streaming device sales continue to climb.

One-quarter (25 per cent) of regular Netflix users also admit to binge-viewing, which GfK defines as watching three of more videos in a sitting, either “often” or “all the time”. Bingeing levels are highest among Generation Y (ages 13 to 35), with almost one in three devouring large chunks of video.

“Netflix is a TV ecosystem unto itself, and now an established force in the total TV marketplace,” says David Tice, Senior Vice President of Media and Entertainment at GfK. “But it represents just one aspect of an increasingly complex OTT picture, which also includes subscription services like Amazon Prime and Hulu, delivery systems such as Roku and Apple TV, and threatened encumbents like cable and satellite companies, which are trying to leverage their content with TV Everywhere options. The upshot is that OTT has now gone mainstream, and consumer expectations of control over their viewing experience continue to rise.”

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