Guess what? Netflix CEO Reed Hasting reported—on Facebook of all places—that “Netflix monthly viewing exceeded 1 billion hours for the first time ever in June. That’s even more impressive than it sounds. Netflix reported that it had delivered 2 billion hours of streaming for its entire December quarter. In other words, Netflix isn’t just growing, it’s growing at an incredible rate. Indeed, Netflix’s streaming-video now accounts for almost a third of peak downstream traffic in North America.
Richard Greenfield, an analyst for BTIG, did some quick and dirty estimates and by his figuring “Netflix would have been the 7th most watched network inclusive of broadcast and cable networks (up from #15 in Q4 2011). It also would have been #2 among cable networks, slightly larger than ESPN and just below Disney Channel.” Indeed, “Adjusting for distribution, among households with Netflix, Netflix would have been #1 watched network overall including broadcast and cable.”