In the world of streaming, Netflix is the undisputed king of prime time.
According to the Fall 2010 Global Internet Phenomena report, "In the United States, Netflix represents more than 20 percent of downstream traffic during peak times." Producers, networks, or anybody in the video space must take notice because these are not people streaming UGC while watching Boardwalk Empire. These people are streaming movies and TV shows during prime time hours, insteadof watching precious advertising.
The report went on to say that, "During the last quarter alone, Netflix added 2 million subscribers to its service, pushing its total to 16.9 million. A year ago, it had just 11 million subscribers."
Those are incredible numbers that any cable channels would kill for. What makes it more amazing is that their money slips right through the fingers of cable providers like Comcast because they're coming in through the ISP side, not the TV side, even though they're usually the same company. That's a tremendous competitive advantage against traditional cable channels because it provids Netfilx with extra cash to acquire more content, improve their technology, and expand their reach. In addition, because they're technically a video company, their window comes before pay TV.
Netflix is becoming a full fledged premium channel that has created a backdoor into your living room via set top boxes, game consoles, and DVD players. It won't be long until Netflix starts producing their own original series and content.