Netflix increases share of peak North American traffic to 38.5%: Sandvine report.
The streaming-TV service now accounts for 36.5 percent of the total bandwidth consumed by North American users during peak traffic periods, up nearly two percent since November, according to the latest report by Canada-based network company Sandvine. WATERLOO – While Netflix continues to slowly increase its domination of North American fixed networks, Facebook and Google now control over 60% of total mobile traffic in Latin America, according to data from Sandvine. The report reflects a trend that has become clear in the last few years: Demand for Netflix, and online video in general, is growing at an incredible pace. In addition, the study found that HBO is also seeing some growth, thanks in part to the launch of its new, over-the-top streaming service HBO NOW and the popularity of its “Game of Thrones” program in particular.
Sandvine’s regular reports on Internet usage — based on traffic as it passes through its systems — have become a reliable indicator of which services are taking up the most bandwidth. Or does it strengthen broadband providers – many of them cable companies – as online video services increasingly rely on fast, high-quality Internet? “Netflix no longer takes up just a third of Internet traffic anymore. But as of today’s report, HBO GO accounts for 3.7 percent of HBO’s traffic share while HBO NOW only accounts for 0.7 percent of peak downstream traffic.
Corporate decisions by these major players, like Netflix’s recent decision to encrypt their streams or Facebook’s decision to auto-play videos uploaded to its site, can instantly and dramatically impact subscribers and all Internet access networks.” The report is based on data from a selection of Sandvine’s 250-plus communications service provider customers spanning North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Caribbean and Latin America and Asia-Pacific. Sandvine says this doesn’t mean that HBO NOW’s impact is minimal, but is rather related to the recency of its launch and its still-limited access. (It’s only available via Apple products and select cable providers, like Cablevision). It’s important to note, however, that Sandvine is measuring HBO traffic only on one network during a Sunday broadcast, which is a bigger traffic day for HBO. About 40 percent of US homes now have access to subscription video on-demand (SVOD), according to Nielsen’s Total Audience Report, released in March.
Meanwhile, pay-TV providers lost about 125,000 net subscribers in 2014, up from 95,000 in 2013, according to New Hampshire-based media firm Leichtman Research Group. Though more households now have SVOD access, more than 90 percent of those that have SVOD, broadband, and cable are more likely to hang on to cable than the first two, according to Nielsen. However, Sandvine notes that Sling’s service launched only a month before data was collected, so it may be too soon to truly understand its potential impact. Last year, Netflix cut controversial deals, first with Comcast, and then with the next three largest American broadband Internet service providers, in which Netflix would pay for faster, more reliable streaming to their subscribers. “The [Netflix-Comcast] accord is the latest sign that broadband providers are gaining leverage with content companies,” The Wall Street Journal noted. Combined, these two companies’ various properties, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, Google Play, and more, account for more than 60 percent of mobile traffic.
But one thing is for sure: “Online video has already shaped the course of corporate history, and now it’s about to define the future, too,” Fung wrote. Facebook’s traffic share has been increasing over the past 18 months as well, thanks to the addition of auto-playing videos which caused an average of 60 percent more Facebook consumption per user.