Streaming Accounts for 70% of Peak Traffic - Netflix 37% - Or Why Amazon Bid For Cordcutters and Is Adding Partners

This is a compilation of two articles from different sources about the exponential growth of streaming with Netflix as the lead provider - and the strategic response of other major contributors, like Amazon, remain competitive.

Whether Netflix can remain dominant or merely represents a transitional phase in the development of the medium is the crucial question. JL

Emil Protalinski reports in Venture Beat and Ingrid Lunden reports in Tech Crunch:

Netflix, now has a greater share of traffic than all of streaming audio and video did five years ago. With Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Video, and Hulu increasing their share, it further underscores both the growing role these streaming services play in the lives of subscribers, and the need for service providers to have solutions to help deliver a quality experience
Venture Beat:
Streaming audio and video services have hit a new high. Traffic from this group now accounts for over 70 percent of North American downstream traffic in the peak evening hours on fixed access networks. Five years ago, it accounted for less than 35 percent.
This latest data comes from broadband Internet service tracking firm Sandvine, which today released its latest Global Internet Phenomena report. As in past reports, it’s no surprise to see Netflix dominating Internet usage.
The company’s streaming service continues to account for more than a third of peak downstream traffic on fixed networks — much more than any other single site or service:
“Streaming Video has grown at such a rapid pace in North America that the leading service in 2015, Netflix, now has a greater share of traffic than all of streaming audio and video did five years ago,” Sandvine CEO Dave Caputo said in a statement. “With Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Video, and Hulu increasing their share since our last report, it further underscores both the growing role these streaming services play in the lives of subscribers, and the need for service providers to have solutions to help deliver a quality experience when using them.”
As you can see, the top three sources of video traffic on fixed access networks in North America break down as follows: Netflix is first by far with 37.05 percent, YouTube is in a respectable second with 17.85 percent, and Amazon Video rounds out the trio with just 3.11 percent. Sandvine adds that all three saw an increase in traffic share over the levels observed earlier in the year.

Sandvine also points out that this growth in video is resulting in BitTorrent share continuing to decline in fixed access bandwidth share. The technology now accounts for less than 2.67 percent of downstream traffic during the peak period in North America. For the entire day, BitTorrent only accounts for 5 percent of total traffic, down from 31 percent in 2008.
But this is exactly what BitTorrent wants: The company has made the BitTorrent protocol “congestion aware,” meaning it yields to other traffic during peak usage hours and works more efficiently. In other words, a drop in the percentage does not mean a drop in volume or usage of the technology, but rather a drop in bandwidth share.
“The lower percentage of BitTorrent traffic during peak hours is intentional,” a BitTorrent spokesperson told VentureBeat. “It will also continue to decrease as streaming video takes up more bandwidth (more players in the space’s attempts at HD and 4K accounts for this). And it’s a good thing, it means everything is working the way we intended and the Internet is more efficient and sustainable.”
The story on mobile is a bit different. YouTube accounted for 20.78 percent, while Facebook grabbed 15.96 percent. Mobile browsers rounded out the top three with 10.75 percent:

While using streaming services on mobile devices is unsurprisingly less popular, it’s still by far the most dominant traffic category. In fact, audio and video streaming account for over 40 percent of the downstream bytes on mobile networks.
Social networks still take a sizeable share, even though they typically generate far less traffic than streaming services. On the flip side though, apps like Facebook and Twitter have added auto-playing video, which naturally adds to the bandwidth usage.

Snapchat, the leading messaging service by volume, generated more traffic each day than the competition, at 4.33 percent. Not only is this more than Facebook’s Instagram, but it’s also higher than streaming services like Pandora and Netflix.
While the two tables show just how differently services are used on fixed connections versus mobile networks, there is one clear trend: Media consumption is the clear winner. As Internet connections become faster and the quality of streams improve, the streaming share will only increase.

Tech Crunch:
Looking to target the growing number of cord-cutters who are opting out of costly pay-TV all-in subscriptions, Amazon is adding another swathe of video content to its Prime, its members-only video, music and free delivery subscription service. Today the company announced the Streaming Partners Program, dozens of TV streams for Prime customers, including subscriptions for Showtime, Starz, A+E Network, AMC, Ring TV Boxing and more. Unlike other Prime services, which are bundled in free with Prime membership, Amazon will be charging for these streams after a free trial period. Showtime and Starz, for example will cost $8.99 per month.
For context, this is the same price you pay for Showtime if you are on Hulu, but lower than the $10.99 fee that people pay if they take it as a standalone service for Apple devices, Roku and PlayStation Vue.
In keeping with this Amazon has also redesigned its video homepage to incorporate the new streaming services, alongside Amazon Original Series, and other Prime video content.
Amazon is not always thought of as the most groundbreaking of businesses when it comes to new tech and new services, and in this case it’s also wading into the cord cutting market not as an early mover, but possibly doing it just as it’s gaining momentum among a wider and more critical mass of consumers more interested in streaming.
“The way people watch TV is changing, and customers need an easier way to subscribe to and enjoy multiple streaming subscriptions,” said Michael Paull, Vice President of Digital Video at Amazon, in a statement. “With the Streaming Partners Program, we’re making it easy for video providers to reach highly engaged Prime members, many of whom are already frequent streamers, and we’re making it easier for viewers to watch their favorite shows and channels.”
The announcement from Amazon feels as much as a notice to consumers, as it is to video content owners who may want to become a part of the platform. “With the Streaming Partners Program, video providers have access to a highly engaged streaming audience, and viewers have a more convenient way to manage their streaming subscriptions,” the company notes.

With the Streaming Partners Program, Amazon is offering to handle various parts of the customer relationship on behalf of video owners. This includes subscriber acquisition, customer service, managing billing — using the cards that are already on file with Amazon — and running the streaming over Amazon’s own infrastructure and making sure the streams work on whatever devices people are using to access the service.
“We’re excited to work with Amazon to offer our streaming service featuring all of our award-winning original series, plus our exclusive sports, news-making documentaries and blockbuster movies, to millions of Prime users,” said David Nevins, President, Showtime Networks Inc. in a statement. “By marrying SHOWTIME with the powerhouse retail capabilities of Amazon, we continue to greatly expand our footprint, making sure our service is available to new subscribers whenever and however they want to watch us.”
On the user side, in addition to free trials and discounts on the individual stream subscriptions, Amazon is hoping that the fact that they are already paying for Prime and watching video on Amazon will lure people to adding more services in that single account. That will also mean a unified playlist/watchlist for videos. Other features will include a unified search feature across all subscriptions, voice search on Fire TV and IMDb X-Ray integration.
Amazon notes that initial launch partners include: SHOWTIME, STARZ, A+E Network (Lifetime Movie Club), AMC (Shudder and SundanceNow Doc Club), Gaia, RLJ Entertainment (Acorn TV, Urban Movie Channel, Acacia TV), DramaFever (DramaFever Instant), Tribeca Short List, Cinedigm (Dove Channel, Docurama, CONtv), Smithsonian (Smithsonian Earth), IndieFlix (IndieFlix Shorts), Curiosity Stream, Qello, FlixFling (Cinefest, Nature Vision, Warriors and Gangsters, Dox, Monsters and Nightmares), BroadbandTV (Hooplakidz Plus), DEFY Media (ScreenJunkies Plus), Gravitas (Film Forum, Daring Docs, Fear Factory) and Ring TV boxing.