Netflix Customers Viewing More TV Shows, Fewer Flicks

Netflix viewers are starting to watch more TV shows and fewer movies. Nielsen today (July 12) released a report that shows nearly 20 percent of Netflix  streaming customers  prefer TV to movies, an 8 percent increase in the past year. Movies are still preferred by 47 percent of Netflix viewers, but that's down from 53 percent in 2011. And those who watch both equally remained nearly unchanged. The research firm suggested that the shift was a result of offering more TV programming. Netflix brought back "Lost" and "Breaking Bad" and will soon offer full seasons of "Arrested Development." It has also plunged into the production business with its own series, "Lilyhammer," starring former Soprano sidekick Steven Van Zandt, with more to come this fall. It may be that Americans just prefer shorter pieces of entertainment. Streaming viewers watch close to 1 billion shows a month on  Hulu  (a rival service that consists primarily of TV programming) in contrast to 300,000 on Netflix, according to a May 2012 Nielsen survey.

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