more popular than cable

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. (NFLX), Hulu and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), 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. (CMCSA), Walt Disney Co. (DIS), 21st Century Fox Inc. (FOX) and Time Warner Inc. (TWX), were tied with 16%, followed by Alphabet Inc.-owned (GOOGL) 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.

-- via etrade (TWX)