Video Streaming – Where are we now?

Netflix, Hulu, YouTube…  It’s amazing that cable tv is still a thing! Video streaming is how we consume video content and there’s no looking back.

These days, more and more people are streaming their TV rather than subscribing to traditional cable. With internet speeds reaching speeds that are faster than ever and access to services that are platform agnostic, it’s easy to see why.

Streaming is here to stay. Not only that, but it’s growing rapidly.

There are currently 33 million cord cutters in the United States, but this number is expected to increase to 55 million by 2022. This is mainly driven by increased internet speeds and connected TV access. YouTube, Hulu, and Sling all offer packages that are essentially cable TV replacement services.

The U.S. isn’t the only country that’s being overrun by streaming services. India has the highest projected video streaming growth rate. While the current size of the market is $749 million, this number is expected to grow past $3 billion by 2024.

Netflix maintains the top spot among paid services with 147.5 million subscribers, but YouTube is the top platform overall with 152 million U.S. users. Coming in 3rd and 4th are Prime Video and Hulu, respectively, but this may change with the newly released Disney Plus service.

What’s most interesting, however, is how people are consuming their video content. While smartphones make up over 50% of internet traffic, this isn’t reflected in video consumption. Over 70% of video streaming consumption is through a connected TV, and only 15-20% is consumed via mobile devices.

With this data, it’s easy to see that video streaming isn’t only here to stay, it’s growing.

Here’s a helpful infographic summarizing the above info.

Source: Infinera