Guest Post: How Streaming Stats Stack Up

May 20, 2016 1 Comment

“Mike” contributed this comment to the post, Anatomy of a Hit Off Air. Given the detail of his observations, and the points he raises, I felt it warranted its own post. – PW

I agree on quality delivered by Netflix but beg to differ on the aspects like original content and the comprehensiveness of the Netflix library (which hasn’t grown since it launched in NZ).

All providers have “original content” by way of their relationships and exclusive content obtained (TVNZ with ABC-Disney, TimeWarner etc, Lightbox with Amazon, Neon with HBO).

Netflix is essentially just a direct2consumer distributor. No more or less original content in nature than its competitors. I imagine that TVNZ could claim delivery of more than 600 hours of “original” or exclusive content to NZ audiences for 2016.

As to libraries:

  • TVNZ has 327 shows (as at 19 May) ranging from one to 15 episodes per show. It would be interesting if TVNZ could reveal the total number of available hours of viewing on TVNZ OnDemand. I think it’s much higher than we perceive.
  • 3Now has 86 shows
  • Lightbox has 391 shows (all TV)
  • Neon has 660 movies (or 1500 hours) and 335 shows (which, if consistent with Sky Ondemand’s 377 shows, could total almost 5000 episodes or 3400 hours).

By way of comparison Netflix NZ has a total count of 2000 movies/shows – or estimated at about 5000 hours. Netflix US, however, has about 14,000 hours worth (although that may have shrunk significantly given the number of titles is down some 24% since early 2014).

The absence of information supplied by the streaming organisations as to the depth and breadth of the libraries only allows the NZ public to reach its opinion based on column inches and heresay. Netflix would win on that count easy.

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One Response to “Guest Post: How Streaming Stats Stack Up”


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     May 20, 2016 at 5:08 pm

    Just to add to the opinion: Lightbox, which I dont think has changed the total number of shows since launch, had around 5,000 hours of viewing at launch. So roughly comparable to … Netflix. If the numbers have changed perhaps Lightbox can correct me. But I reiterate that NZ is equally well served by the streaming organisations. It’s not just one company.

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