Fast facts:
- In 2025, Netflix remains the largest individual streaming service by share of TV usage on U.S. televisions, per Nielsen’s The Gauge, but the company does not publish a global per-user daily time figure.
- On U.S. broadcast primetime, a typical hour still contains roughly 16–18 minutes of non-program time (about 12–14 minutes of paid commercials), with many cable entertainment networks running higher; this is consistent with standard one-hour program deliverables and recent trade reporting (SAG-AFTRA MBA; Kagan 2024; Ad Age 2024).
- With an ad-free plan, two hours of Netflix can spare viewers roughly 32–36 minutes of non-program time a day—about 194–219 hours a year—compared with a typical broadcast primetime hour.
- Post-pandemic, streaming’s share of TV time has remained structurally higher than in 2019; by late 2024, streaming accounted for around 40% of total TV usage and cable was just under 30% (Nielsen, The Gauge).
There are a number of reasons television viewers might say they prefer watching Netflix over network TV. Some prefer the original content, or access to an entire back catalog of one of their favorite shows. Others might say they enjoy watching whatever they want on their own schedule as on-demand television becomes the new norm. See Nielsen’s The Gauge and Deloitte Digital Media Trends for the latest usage and preference signals.
One of the most common reasons people say they prefer a streaming service like Netflix over traditional network and cable television is because there are no commercial breaks. In practice, many streamers now offer a choice: ad-free plans or lighter ad loads on ad-supported tiers—often around 4–6 minutes per hour—materially below typical linear TV levels (Peacock; Tubi; Prime Video).
Last year, Netflix VP of Original Content Cindy Holland announced that the average Netflix user spends two hours a day using the service. Today, Netflix does not publish per-user daily time; the most defensible 2025 view relies on market-specific proxies: Nielsen’s The Gauge (U.S. TV share), Comscore State of Streaming (CTV hours per OTT household), and Ofcom Media Nations (minutes per person per day in the UK). Netflix’s own Engagement Reports show aggregate hours viewed but are not normalized to per-user daily time.
So how much time do people spend watching commercials every year viewing broadcast and cable television?
According to a report by Gaebler via Wikipedia, older compilations often cite an hour of U.S. TV as roughly 42 minutes of programming and 18 minutes of non-program time. In 2025, standard broadcast deliverables still imply ~42–44 minutes of content per hour—about 16–18 minutes of non-program time—with roughly 12–14 minutes of that typically paid commercials (SAG-AFTRA MBA). Trade reporting indicates loads have been flat to slightly down since 2020 rather than rising (Ad Age; Kagan; NextTV). Earlier coverage, like the Los Angeles Times, reported increases in 2019. There have also been reports of networks speeding up the playback speed of television episodes 10-15% in order to get in one extra ad slot, something the average viewer likely wouldn’t specifically notice but which adds up over time.
Total TV time varies by source and methodology; older summaries, according to a California State University study, cited high daily viewing totals. For a current split of how that time is allocated, Nielsen’s The Gauge shows streaming around 40% of total TV usage and cable just under 30% in late 2024.
Using the broadcast primetime range above, two hours a day on an ad-free Netflix plan would avoid interruptions equivalent to roughly 194–219 hours of non-program time per year (about 8–9 days), or about 146–170 hours if counting paid ads only.
While network and cable television networks still show strong ratings and total viewership numbers, the number of subscribers to major cable services has been steadily decreasing in recent years as a growing number of people aim to cut the cord. Major U.S. providers lost about 5.36 million video subscribers in 2023 and ended the year near 71 million subscriptions, and streaming accounted for roughly 40% of TV usage in late 2024 with cable just under 30% (Leichtman Research Group; Nielsen’s The Gauge). Viewers increasingly cite control, content choice, and lighter ad experiences—often via lower-cost ad tiers—as reasons to favor streaming.
Interestingly, prices for internet-only packages have become more expensive as cable companies work to recoup revenue losses due to the growth of cord cutting. With bundles, cable companies can offer lower pricing on each portion of the package, but as more people opt for internet only service, we have noticed a trend of ISPs raising their prices. This streaming has also created an increase in bandwidth usage, which means it seems likely home internet service might continue to get more expensive as this trend continues.
