More than one-third of Google Chromecast owners stream Hulu, Netflix to TV set daily
Michelle Clancy | 04-10-2013
Over a third (34%) of Google Chromecast owners stream video content from Hulu to their TV set every day, new research has revealed. Meanwhile, 43% of Chromecast owners stream Netflix daily basis, a feature heavily promoted during the device's introduction.
"Chromecast is giving people in Hollywood headaches right now," said John Barrett, director of consumer analytics at Parks Associates. "All the wrangling over licensing restrictions doesn't mean much if consumers can simply circumvent them."
Google Chromecast is a $35 device that is essentially nothing more than an Internet-connected flash drive that plugs directly into an HDTV to stream content from the cloud or other devices. Content-wise, it offers YouTube, Hulu and Netflix as the predominant options. And, viewers can use a smartphone, tablet or computer as a remote control.
Unlike, say, Apple TV, Google Chromecast streams content running on iOS, Android, Windows and Google's own Chrome OS. So anyone can pull up a YouTube video from pretty much any device, and fling it to the TV.
Parks said that content providers typically license movies and TV programmes for viewing on specific screens such as a TV, computer, tablet or mobile phone. Google's latest screen-shifting device complicates matters by allowing the consumer to move content from one screen to the next.
"Google Chromecast is making it easier for consumers to circumvent screen restrictions," Barrett said. "For example, the content from the premium Hulu Plus service is available for viewing on a TV set, but content from the free Hulu service has been technologically constrained to computers. But among those watching Hulu monthly on a TV set via a Chromecast device, roughly 50% are using only the free services from Hulu."
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