Viewership of live TV declined 12.7 percent in January, said Nomura analyst Anthony DiClemente, who has become the latest media investment pundit to attribute such a drop to streaming subscription video on demand (SVOD) services.
Calling the ratings drop "one of the worst declines we have seen since we launched coverage of these companies," DiClemente's noted added that, "Netflix, Amazon Instant Video and Hulu continue to siphon viewers away from linear TV."
Viacom networks led all ratings droppers with a collective 23 percent decline, while Disney's channels--led by ESPN--dropped only around 7.5 percent.
DiClemente's conclusion jibes with notes sent in the fourth quarter by Bernstein analyst Todd Juenger. He also attributed an 8 percent drop across all cable networks for 2014 to streaming services.
For more:
- read this Nomura Research report (reg. req.)
- read this GigaOm story
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