Building H Index
Netflix
INDUSTRY
entertainment
products Profiled
Netflix video streaming service
H-Score
20
ranked 7th of 7 within entertainment industry
ranked 37th of 37 overall
product description
Netflix’s video streaming service allows subscribers to watch video content on screens of all sizes (including televisions, computers, tablets and smartphones) on a 24/7 basis. Usage of the service is unlimited and charged at a flat rate. No advertising is presented.
As of the 3rd quarter of 2021, Netflix has approximately 74 million subscribers in the U.S. and Canada.(1) It has approximately 5,800 movies and television shows available to stream.(2)
product usage
Most people use the product by sitting, for sustained periods of time, and watching content on a screen. Most users watch the service indoors most of the time and use the service sometimes alone and sometimes with friends or family. While using the service, the service consumes most, if not all, of the user’s attention. Netflix is one of several competing video streaming services and most users who watch programming on Netflix also spend time watching other services as well. Netflix has stated, as of 2019, that its users watch an average of two hours of its content per day.(3) Netflix also allows users to download content for offline consumption.
influence on health-related behaviors
EATING
slight to moderate negative influence
Television viewers frequently eat while watching TV and the foods they eat tend to be less healthy than foods consumed at meal times. Watching TV multiple hours a day has been linked to unhealthy dietary behaviors, and increased outcomes of diet-related diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.(4,5)
People tend to eat more mindlessly while watching TV because they’re distracted: food is less satisfying, and you miss cues that you’ve eaten enough.(6)
In Building H’s consumer research 64% of video streaming users (not specific to Netflix) reported eating at least one meal per week and 59% of users reported snacking sometimes, usually or always, while watching streamed content. 37% of users who streamed more than 4 hours per day reported eating more than one meal per day and 49% of those users reported snacking usually or always, while watching.(7)
Some association between diet and television watching has been attributed to the presence of advertisements for unhealthy foods.(8,9) Because Netflix does not interrupt its programming with advertisements, it does not contribute to unhealthy diets in the same way as conventional, ad-supported, television.
PHYSICAL ACTVITY
moderate to strong negative influence
Television watching is typically a sedentary activity, thus time spent watching television limits opportunities for physical activity. In addition, television viewing is an especially sedentary behavior, having a lower metabolic rate than other sedentary activities.(10) While a moderate amount of television watching would leave time for more active pursuits, Americans on average spend approximately six hours per day watching video content(11) and less than 5% of Americans get 30 minutes per day of moderate physical activity.(12)
Netflix’s implementation of streaming video uses features that encourage greater use of the service: the flat subscription rate sets no maximum limit on viewing; and the autoplay feature automatically plays next episodes, within five to 20 seconds, thus encouraging binge-watching. Autoplay is activated for children’s programming as well. Users do not have the option to disable the autoplay feature. It has also created additional opportunities to watch more content through the “Play Something” button — for users who can’t think of a particular show or movie to watch.
- Shift away from encouraging binge-watching:
- eliminate the autoplaying of next episodes or at least eliminate autoplay for children’s programming
- make autoplay opt-in rather than opt-out or at least enable users to disable autoplay
Sleeping
moderate negative influence
Late-night television viewing negatively affects sleep in two ways: 1) by offering a competitive alternative to sleep; and 2) through the bright, blue spectrum light of the screens that has been shown to suppress the production of melatonin, a hormone that signals the onset of the sleep cycle.(13)
Building H’s consumer research found that 54.7% of video streaming users (not specific to Netflix) reported that watching TV or movies caused them to lose some sleep at least once a week on average, with 36.6% reporting that they got less sleep for this reason two or more times a week. 14.5% reported their sleep being affected four or more nights a week.(14)
Netflix encourages binge-watching (which can compete with sleep) through the use of autoplay.
It does not adapt any of its features to treat “bedtime” differently than any hour of the day.
Netflix might also influence sleep indirectly through its influences on physical activity and time spent outdoors, as both of those behaviors are positively correlated with better sleep.
- Enable users to set a bedtime mode, as with iOS and Android, such that they can specify the hours when they hope to go to sleep and then respect those hours by making the user choose affirmatively to watch new episodes after the set bedtime.
- Adapt recommendation algorithms to promote less intense programming in the hour prior to the user’s set bedtime.
Engaging Socially
neutral to slight negative influence
Television watching can be either a solo or a social activity. Building H’s consumer research found that 36.1% of streaming users (not specific to Netflix) reported watching with others at least 75% of the time, 26.6% reported sometimes watching with others and 37.3% reported watching with others less than 25% of the time.(15) These results are consistent with other research that found Americans split their time evenly between watching alone or watching with others.(16)
Watching television alone clearly competes with social activity, but watching with significant others, family and friends can enhance relationships.
Third-party developers created Netflix Party (now Teleparty), available as a Google Chrome extension, as a way to facilitate joint watching of shows while people are separated by distance. Such extensions create opportunities for more social viewing of Netflix content, though Netflix has not pursued this functionality directly.
On the negative side, Netflix has acknowledged, on its Investors site, that it seeks to capture time currently spent socializing.(17)
- Promote and/or make more prominent opportunities for social viewing by promoting Teleparty or other third-party services. (Or develop a native social viewing feature.)
- Create prominent opportunities for online discussions about shows.
Getting Outdoors
moderate to strong negative influence
As most viewing takes place indoors, time watching television competes with time spent outdoors.
- Shift away from encouraging binge-watching.
Notes
Number of Netflix paying streaming subscribers in the United States and Canada from 1st quarter 2013 to 3rd quarter 2021. Statista website. October 22, 2021
Sam Cook. 50+ Netflix statistics & facts that define the company’s dominance in 2021. Comparitech blog. September 10, 2021
Elsa Keslassy. Netflix’s Cindy Holland Says Subscribers Watch an Average of Two Hours a Day. Variety, March 11, 2019
Georgina Cairns et al. Systematic reviews of the evidence on the nature, extent and effects of food marketing to children. A retrospective summary. Appetite. Volume 62, 1 March 2013. Pages 209-215.
Ahmad Alghadir et al. Television Watching, Diet and Body Mass Index of School Children in Saudi Arabia. Pediatrics International. Volume 58, Issue 4, April 2016. Pages 290-294.
Janna Smith and Tanya Ditschun. Controlling satiety: how environmental factors influence food intake. Trends in Food Science & Psychology. Volume 20, Issues 6–7, July 2009. Pages 271-277.
Steve Downs. A Survey of Modern Life: Food; Delivery Apps, Meal Kits, Groceries and Cooking Dinner. Building H on Medium. January 20, 2022.
J.L. Harris et al. Priming effects of television food advertising on eating behavior. Health Psychology, 28(4), (2009). Pages 404–413.
Cairns et al. (2013)
Barbara Ainsworth et al. Compendium of Physical Activities: Classification of Energy Costs of Human Physical Activities. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, January 1993, pp. 71-80.
Sarah Perez. U.S. Adults Now Spend Nearly 6 Hours per Day Watching Video. TechCrunch, July 31, 2018
President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition. Facts & Statistics
Matthew Walker. Why We Sleep. pp. 267-270.
Steve Downs. A Survey of Modern Life: Sleep; New Data on American Sleeping Patterns. Building H on Medium. May 25, 2021
Carlo Martinez. A Survey of Modern Life: Entertainment. Building H on Medium. May 4, 2021
When You Watch, Are You Alone? Radio & Television Business Report January 15, 2019
Netflix Investors website. Top Investor Questions, response to “Who do you see as your main competitors?”