Greater percentages of Netflix and Hulu Plus subscribers are streaming content using mobile devices.
The trend is strongest among Netflix subscribers. In 2012, only 5% of Netflix subscribers said they streamed content on an iPad. A year later, this percentage tripled to 15%.
The trend is nearly identical for subscribers using other tablet brands.
The relatively small screens of mobile phones don't seem to pose a problem for streaming video audiences. Among Netflix subscribers, the percentage streaming to their phones exploded from 11% to 23%. For Hulu Plus subscribers, the jump was also significant, from 10% in 2012 to 17% this year.
The Nielsen data doesn't say anything about which devices are being used most often for consuming content, just that subscribers reported using particular devices for streaming content at some point. We recently covered consumption behavior across devices here.
The PC has begun to fade as a delivery channel for streaming video. This trend was most pronounced among Hulu Plus subscribers. Sixty-one percent of Hulu Plus subscribers said they used their PCs for streaming in 2012. By contrast only 43% reported using PCs in 2013.
This decline is a big deal. Hulu recently reported doubling its paying subscribers from 2 million in 2012 to 4 million in 2013. The company continues to be successful at drawing new paid subscribers even as the consumption habits of its audience shift.
Unsurprisingly, Internet-enabled TV is gaining acceptance as a streaming device. Both Hulu Plus and Netflix saw greater percentages of subscribers using Internet-enabled televisions.
The results for gaming consoles — which double as video streaming platforms — were mixed. It will be interesting to see if the numbers shift with the release of the highly anticipated Playstation 4 and the Xbox One later this year.
Click here to download charts and data in Excel.
