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Nielsen: Mobile viewership on Netflix edges Hulu

July 28, 2011 — 9:15am ET | By Jason Ankeny

Viewer interest in streaming video efforts like Netflix and Hulu is on the rise across multiple media platforms, but a new Nielsen survey finds that consumer usage behaviors and trends differ significantly between the two services. Eighty-nine percent of Hulu users view content directly via computer, compared to 42 percent of Netflix users, Nielsen reports--conversely, the majority of Netflix users report watching on a TV screen, with half of all Netflix users connecting via game consoles like the Wii, PS3 or Xbox Live.

Click here to see a larger version of this and other charts from the study.

Mobile viewing constitutes a relatively small component of overall streaming video consumption. Three percent of Netflix viewers say they screen video over their mobile phone, compared to 2 percent of Hulu users. In addition, 3 percent of Netflix users view video on Apple's iPad (NASDAQ:AAPL), in contrast with just 1 percent of Hulu users.

Nielsen adds that Netflix and Hulu subscribers favor different types of content. Fifty-three percent of Netflix users view movies, 11 percent gravitate to television shows and 36 percent watch both in equal measure; 73 percent of Hulu viewers check out TV programming, 9 percent watch movies and 18 percent enjoy both equally.

Last week, Bloomberg reported Apple is mulling a bid to acquire Hulu, with sources stating that the two companies are currently in the early stages of negotiations. Hulu, owned by media conglomerates News Corp., Disney and Comcast, is expected to fetch more than $2 billion on the open market. Apple--now the world's second most-valuable company--recently said it has $76.2 billion in cash and securities on its books. Both Apple and Hulu declined to comment on the reports.

For more:
- read this Nielsen Wire blog entry