Report: More Than Half of U.S. Broadband Homes Use Netflix

LOS ANGELES: More than half of American broadband homes have a Netflix subscription, but rival Amazon Prime is growing rapidly, according to Parks Associates.

Nearly 20 percent of all U.S. broadband homes now have an Amazon Prime Instant Video subscription, Parks Associates reports. The annual growth rate for Amazon Prime subscriptions averaged more than 55 percent since 2012, as compared with 16 percent year-on-year at Netflix, according to Parks Associates data.

“Roughly 50 to 60 percent of U.S. households using connected CE devices subscribe to Netflix, but the percentage of connected CE users subscribing to Netflix did not substantially change between 2012 and 2013," said Brett Sappington, director of research at Parks Associates. "By comparison, the percentage of U.S. broadband households with connected CE and an Amazon subscription more than doubled in the same time period, from an average of approximately 13 percent to 27 percent. For example, households with a connected streaming media player that also have an Amazon Prime subscription jumped from 22 percent to 34 percent."

Sappington continued, “Amazon is certainly getting traction in the market, especially when compared against Hulu Plus. Amazon's growth shows how dynamic the OTT space truly is. While Netflix remains the dominant player, consumers are still open to alternatives with interesting content and business models."