Millennials ‘more likely to turn on Netflix than live TV’

Millennials now spend 54% of their TV viewing time streaming content and just 25% watching live, according to Horowitz Research. 

The research firm’s State of Cable and Digital Media 2016 report describes streaming as “the new normal” for people aged 18-34 and noted a rapid shift from ‘traditional viewing’ – of live TV, DVR content and VOD – to streaming.

For millennials in 2016, 39% of viewing is done via these ‘traditional viewing’ methods, compared to 75% in 2012.

Over the same time period, the amount of time spent streaming content has climbed from 15% in 2012 to 54% in 2016.

“Millennials are more likely to turn to Netflix when they want to watch TV than to live television: 36% say Netflix is their first ‘go-to’ source for TV content; 29% say they go to live TV,” said the research.

However, Horowitz said that traditional TV “continues to have value” with 76% of 18-34 year-olds using a combination of traditional and streamed content. Just 13% exclusively stream content.

Across all adult age groups the trends are reversed, with viewers spending just 29% of TV viewing time streaming content compared to 50% watching live, according to the research.