Consumer thirst for quality and entertaining programming is as high as ever, making the decision of what to watch as difficult as the decision of how to watch. While TV is still the dominant screen for watching video, streaming via Internet connected devices is rapidly increasing and becoming a norm for many. We saw evidence of this incredible appetite for programming when Sandvine released its bi-annual Internet usage report this week. The report shows that Netflix continues to dominate downstream traffic during peak hours, accounting for 35 percent of Internet traffic. Amazon Instant Video, HBOGO, and Hulu together account for another five percent of traffic. Online video streaming, whether through Internet subscription video services or through authenticated cable network content, has seen outstanding growth and increased the choices of what, where and how consumers watch. Cable networks and other online video services are experimenting with exciting and unique programming, pushing the envelope with the cinematography and storytelling. In this ever-competitive video industry, only the best shows survive, so investing heavily in programming is critical for generating hits and viewership. Cable has invested nearly $275 billion since 1996 in just that, spending almost $30 billion in 2013 alone – much of that programming which is being repurposed on the streaming video services. Here’s a look at cable’s investment in programming for the past two decades:
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