More People Stream Netflix, Fewer Subscribe To Premium Channels

By Phil Villarreal January 31, 2011
hbo

(blue_j)

There are only so many monthly fees people are willing to pay to watch movies at home, and Netflix’s options seem to be dominating those of premium channels.

Home Media Magazine reports Time Warner Cable lost 141,000 premium and video-on-demand subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2010. Meanwhile, Netflix picked up 3 million subscribers in the quarter, part of the 7.7 million it added in the year. A third of new subscribers are opting for the $7.99 streaming-only plan.

While HBO, Showtime and Starz have long since reshaped themselves as sources of original programming, movies do still make up a significant chunk of the channels’ offerings. It stands to reason that Netflix’s rise coincides with their losses.

If you stream Netflix, has the service replaced premium channels for you?

Time Warner Cable Loses 141,000 Video Subs in Fourth Quarter [Home Media Magazine via High-def Digest]

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Comments

  1. Repossessed_Posse_Pirate says:
    January 31, 2011 at 3:50 pm

    I did not delete any premium content, but the appeal of Netflix is too much at a good price to pass up. Really great for the winter months, I’d recommend it to anyone.

  2. Warren - aka The Piddler on the Roof says:
    January 31, 2011 at 3:58 pm

    Premium channels.

    Are those the ones littered with annoying commercials?

  3. tinyhands says:
    January 31, 2011 at 4:00 pm

    Maybe I’d subscribe to a premium channel if I didn’t have to also buy a package of 200 other channels that I don’t care about, plus hardware rental and additional fees. And as Rebecca K-S points out, I’m not that wild about paying for a full month of premium channel for the one decent movie per week they show.

  4. Kimmakimma says:
    January 31, 2011 at 6:21 pm

    I use Netflix stream-only and I love it. I don’t have to fart around flipping through channel guides to find something I WANT to watch as opposed to just what is on. That may not work for everyone. For myself and my husband it is great since we aren’t home that much.

  5. lovemypets00 - You'll need to forgive me, my social filter has cracked. says:
    January 31, 2011 at 6:23 pm

    I wish I could ditch cable all together!! Too bad I’m too far away from the local network transmitters to use an outdoor antenna. If I could pick them up over the air, I’d cancel cable. Today.

  6. Snoofin says:
    January 31, 2011 at 6:35 pm

    Perhaps more people would subscribe to premium content like HBO if they actually played new releases like they used to when it was new in the 80s. Now they play 10 year old movies.

  7. Snoofin says:
    January 31, 2011 at 6:35 pm

    Perhaps more people would subscribe to premium content like HBO if they actually played new releases like they used to when it was new in the 80s. Now they play 10 year old movies.

  8. Kevin says:
    January 31, 2011 at 8:29 pm

    I’m anxiously awaiting streaming on my Droid.

  9. Chaosium says:
    January 31, 2011 at 9:11 pm

    God, Netflix. Get exclusive deals with HBO. Please! I’ll never need any cable ever again.

  10. Draw2much says:
    January 31, 2011 at 9:31 pm

    Even before Netflix, we never got premium channels. We were just too poor and couldn’t justify the cost. We’d get basic or just-above basic packages. However, when we moved overseas we learned to live without cable in general and started depending exclusively on the theaters, DVDs, and Netflix. After we came back to the states we discovered that there was nothing on cable that was worth paying the extra money for. So now all we have is cable internet and dropped cable completely.

    I dunno, if TV channel companies want to survive, they either need to make themselves attractive enough to be worth the extra money, or they need to start streaming all their content. Otherwise they’re gonna die kicking and screaming and making it difficult for people who choose not to use their services.

  11. unchainedmuse says:
    January 31, 2011 at 10:54 pm

    I recently ditched the “standard” cable package in favor of local channels only. I bought a Roku box and stream Netflix and HuluPlus. I’m so happy – I watch what I want whenever I want, and can pause it anytime. =)

  12. logicthinker says:
    February 1, 2011 at 2:03 am

    well netflix is a viable option that is until HBO, Showtime, Stars Et.al. decides to offer contracts with netflix, and then netflix has no choice but to increase its rates. all of these studios whether premium or regular will not tolerate losing revenue, so they will at some point offer netflix contracts, in netflix in turn will pass the costs on to consumers, mark my words.

  13. TikiFrank says:
    February 1, 2011 at 11:35 am

    Netflix has replaced everything. I traded my DirecTv bill of 85 bucks a month for my Netflix bill of 10 bucks a month.

    DirecTv had their chance to keep me. It didn’t make sense to me that as a subscriber of 10 years that I was paying so much more than their brand new subscribers. I asked for a deal and they told me to pound sand.

    Netflix could double their monthly fees and I still wouldn’t look back.

  14. kaleberg says:
    February 3, 2011 at 11:06 am

    We dropped satellite TV completely and moved to iTunes. They get all the good series. We’re looking at NetFlix, but we have a backlog of movies to watch.

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