Netflix chases cable as YouTube eats TV time

Netflix is making more money and adding subscribers, but its grip on viewers' time is weakening. According to Nielsen data cited by Bloomberg, daily viewing hours are declining, while the Wall Street Journal reports that engagement has become a regular topic inside the company and a growing concern for investors.

That pressure is pushing Netflix toward a more cable-like model. The Journal says the company is exploring streaming channels that run on a schedule, and may also adopt Amazon’s approach of selling add-on subscriptions to other services such as Peacock. Netflix is also planning a selection of short-form videos, echoing the styles that have helped YouTube and TikTok dominate casual viewing.

How Netflix is shifting its strategy

The service that once compared itself to HBO now looks increasingly like a smaller cable bundle. It has expanded into live sports with exclusive NFL, MLB, and WWE programming, and is reportedly interested in rights for the next World Cup. Its original slate has also moved heavily into unscripted programming, with non-fiction making up more than half of Netflix’s originals.

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At the same time, prices have climbed sharply:

• The Standard plan rose from $14 to $20 per month over the past five years
• Premium with 4K video now costs $7 per month extra
• Sharing an account outside the household now adds $10 per month

That puts a single household’s Netflix bill at as much as $37 per month. Even so, the company still has the lowest cancellation rates in streaming, giving it room to raise prices and broaden its offering.

YouTube is becoming the bigger problem

The clearest competitive shift is happening on YouTube. Nielsen says its share of U.S. daily TV viewing climbed from 8.1 percent in 2023 to 13.4 percent in 2026. Netflix grew too, but much more slowly, moving from 6.9 percent to 7.8 percent over the same period.

That gap matters because YouTube asks less of viewers: no subscription, no commitment, and an endless supply of quick videos. Netflix’s interest in short-form clips from publishers such as Buzzfeed and Conde Nast, along with reported plans for always-on channels, looks like a direct attempt to reclaim some of that low-friction engagement. It also mirrors the channel-surfing approach used by The Roku Channel and Pluto. The Roku Channel has now reached 3 percent of daily viewing share, after not appearing on Nielsen’s radar three years earlier.

If Netflix also starts bundling third-party subscriptions, that could help keep viewers inside its app while making cancellations harder as prices rise. But it would also make Netflix more complicated than the straightforward service many customers originally signed up for.