Posted on 05/18/2011 5:15:26 AM PDT by decimon
Internet trends report predicts that real-time entertainment applications will account for 55 to 60 percent of peak aggregate traffic by the end of this year
A study of internet trends conducted by Sandvine has revealed that North American web users have become increasingly interested in on-demand applications like Netflix, and this enthusiasm for real-time entertainment categories will likely continue to grow.
Sandvine is a provider of intelligent broadband network solutions for fixed and mobile operators. It releases a Global Internet Phenomena Report annually, and has done so since 2002. These reports analyze internet phenomena and traffic on the web in North America, Latin America and Europe.
In the Global Internet Phenomena Report: Spring 2011, Sandvine found that Netflix is now 29.7 percent of peak downstream traffic in North America, and has become "the largest source of internet traffic overall."
In 2009, real-time entertainment applications consumed 29.5 percent of peak aggregate traffic, and today, that number has increased to 49.2 percent. According to Sandvine's predictions, this category will account for 55 to 60 percent of peak aggregate traffic by the end of this year.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailytech.com ...
The problem is that there’s no money in $8 NetFlix subscription, but there’s on $75 basic cable packages.
I have no time to watch movies anymore anyway. I’m busy watching my government.
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Same here.
I couldn’t care less about movies because so many of them are not worth my time. Between the filthy language and the anti-Western culture slant, the film industry has dug itself into a huge hole, IMO.
We switched dish service companies a few months back. One of the deals included was a free intoductory movie package. We watched a total of 3 during a 3-month period, and only 1 was worth our time.
Add to that the fact that titles come and go. A title will be in your instant watch queue and then it will go to "DVD only status" and a few months later may return to "streaming available."
FWIW: "The Sting" is currently available for streaming. I saw it in the recently added movies list and added it to my queue.
When nextlix carries HBO - I’ll cancel my cable too. (And yeah, I’d pay extra for HBO - just tired of paying extra for 500 channels I never watch).
The don’t have to watch often to add up to 1/3 of peak time flow. All it really means is during that time when the most people are on the internet a significant chunk of them are streaming a movie from Netflix. But it’s all relative measurements, could be 20 people of 300 streaming, or 200,000 out of 3,000,000, don’t know because that’s not the numbers being presented.
I was never an HBO subscriber. I guess it’s true what they say—you don’t miss what you never had.
Hey, I’m not privy anymore to internet traffic logs. So I easily could be wrong on this. But still ... 60% of bandwidth for a friggin passive activity. That isn’t healthy if true.
It’s 30% bandwidth, and nobody says it’s the only thing the people are doing. You can stream a movie from Netflix and do other stuff, on the internet or out in meatspace. Cardio-cinema isn’t just a feature at gyms.
gnip
I don’t look for the ISPs to let this continue the way it has been for much longer. Expect wide spread bandwidth limits and fees for exceeding those limits. Already happening in many places.
FWIW, The expert claimed it would be 60% by year end.
In any case I sticketh to my assertions about the meatspace-rackspace interface. While the megamuching of hi-def cinema might get heavy and is heavy now, it’s a fad that will pass. And pass quickly. Six months of a lifestyle of movie, movie movie will kill a bunch of people, and stink of their decaying meat will fend of thoughts of others as to emulating that ultra-passive behavior.
Most folks will get bored or sick of movies.
60% total, sort of. But again that’s internet traffic. Who knows what people not hooked to the net are doing. I watch tons of movies, I’m very healthy. It only takes half an hour to an hour of exercise and some smarts in what you eat to be healthy, that leaves lots of time for movies. I knocked down 5 movies last weekend in and around an hour with the trainer, a 2 hour bike ride, a couple of hours planning a convention and a couple of NHL playoff games.
People aren’t getting bored or sick of movies. Even with the troubles the industry is having they still hauled 10 BILLION in domestic grosses last year, and that’s just theater money, that doesn’t count buying DVDs, renting DVDs, Netflix, or illegal downloads. I’d love to be in an industry that people are sick of but can still get $31 from every man woman and child in the country through it’s least profitable distribution method.
Your problem is that you have a bad assumption. You think that if a person watches movies that must mean they do absolutely nothing else with their lives and get fat. And you’re wrong. Never forget what it means to ass-u-me.
I don't blame the ISPs. If they don't charge more to the heavy hitters then they have to charge more to all.
I totally agree. The ISP has to pay for and build for their own expected capacity. When you are planning for a network, you try to anticipate the usage of your end users. When you have an already built, in production network, and 30% of your users are clogging your critical ‘pipes’, you’re going to have to pay big $$$$ to upgrade/expand to accommodate the extra traffic. Chances are, when the network was designed, it wasn’t expected that 30% of the users would be downloading video and HiDef movies 24/7. In order to stay in business, the cost of the expansion/upgrades HAVE to be passed on to the user base. The only moral way to do it, IMO is make the heavier users pay the bill.
NetFlix’s business model is built upon the above scenario, and when those costs for the end users begin to come into play in a big way, it will eventually lead back to THEIR profit margins. They won’t retain as many subscribers if they are having to pay both NetFlix AND their ISP for usage. On the other hand, what happens if the ISPs(such as cable companies) decide to get into the game and compete with Netflix? The ISPs will be at a significant advantage, which will be ANOTHER hit against the NetFlix margin.
Same here, in addition to a foreign-language TVoIP that my wife watches.
Unfortunately, I've recently moved from an area that had no bandwidth cap to an area serviced by Comcast. I've had my internet service a whole two weeks and I see I've already used 68% of my 250GB monthly cap.
Oops. This really sucks.
Yep, Comcast has a 250 GB cap. It’s not great but could be worse.
I’m on AT&T DSL and our cap has just been implemented at only 150 GB. AT&T Uverse is supposed to have a 250 GB cap but I don’t want to switch to Uverse internet unless they will waive the modem/gateway fee and the one-time connection fee of nearly $150.
I didn't know either until I read this thread and looked into it. I've always left my wife's TVoIP console turned on 24/7 and simply turned off the TV when she wasn't watching it. Never an issue when we had Time Warner. Now I'm going to turn it to standby (in addition to turning the TV off) when it's not being used and see if this decreases bandwidth usage.
Bah, I hate the reruns and remakes with different actors.
First, I don't know if its an estimate or a calculation using actual records.
Second, I will add anecdotally that just tonight my kids and I watched a 1080p movie streamed from VUDO (Like Netflix only per movie charge instead of monthly) and last watched one only a week and a half before.
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