Netflix has been on an absolute roll these past few years, and though only time will tell if it can continue to dominate the way it has been, it’s definitely looking like the company is helping bring about the destruction of traditional television. A survey from Clearleap suggests that streaming services, Netflix being chief among them, are currently on par with cable television in terms of penetration, and growth trends indicate that they’ll surpass traditional television in the near future.
The ongoing fight for the collective viewing attention of consumers is absolutely fascinating to watch; not only are we in the midst of a highly competitive battle being waged by influential media giants, the outcome of the battle itself remains excitingly unpredictable. Sure, we know that streaming services from the likes of Netflix and HBO continue to grow in popularity, but a number of questions about what the media landscape will look like in even two years remains open to debate. For instance, what can cable providers do to attract new customers and, just as important, keep existing ones? Will Apple’s rumored TV subscription service prove successful? Can Netflix continue churning out an endless stream of compelling and original content? Can Hulu, or perhaps Amazon, steal away a significant number customers from Netflix? Clearly, the next few years will help crystallize the debate, but in the meantime, we can always rely on recently compiled data to help better inform our current understanding of the media landscape. Case in point: earlier this month, an interesting survey from Clearleap revealed that the penetration of streaming services is now about “on par” with traditional cable TV.