Netflix may make some frustrating changes from time to time, but overall, the price for its offering keeps people coming back, and encourages Netflix newbies to take the plunge. But just how popular is Netflix overall? According to Exstreamist (a clever site name, I must admit), it’s at least four times as popular as Comcast’s cable TV service.
Now, to be fair, Netflix caters to markets other than just the US, so Comcast automatically has a handicap. There’s also the little fact that Netflix costs about 30 cents per day. Nonetheless, the graph below highlights the fact that Netflix continues to grow at an alarming rate, whereas Comcast doesn’t seem to budge at all.
While it might seem impossible for a cable TV service to gain subscribers nowadays, Comcast is in fact enjoying a bit of growth. The company’s latest financial reports show that 279,000 people started a subscription with the company in the first three months of the year. That’s a little interesting as Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said two years ago that cable TV was, in effect, “done”.
But how long can that growth continue? That’s the big question. We’ve seen the signs for years, with services Hulu and Amazon Prime Video also exhibiting accelerated adoption. It hasn’t been all pretty – after all, many have had to resort to using VPNs to access some of Netflix’s catalog, an action that Bell Media president believes makes you a thief (it’s exceptionally rare to get this method working nowadays, anyway).
What’s potentially saved many from jumping the Netflix ship is the company’s own content, which for the most part doesn’t have regional restrictions, outside of possible delays (or timed releases). Netflix produces so much of its own content (and good content, for that matter), that most people could watch only it and never run out. Comcast is going to have a hard time competing with the likes of that, and Netflix’s own competitors that are beginning to go the streaming route, like HBO.
For those who’ve cut the cord, though, having these options is amazing. If only sports streaming was so convenient, and not as expensive as it currently is.