Nielsen: Hulu users watch more TV than Netflix members

Nielsen study shows what people are watching on Netflix and Hulu

By Athima Chansanchai

As people begin to seek alternatives to Netflix after the brouhaha caused by its 60 percent price hike and separation of DVD and streaming plans, Hulu is one option where users are already watching more TV than their Netflix counterparts.

Nielsen recently conducted a survey of "more than 12,000 online interviews in March 2011, focusing on usage and attitudes for over-the-top video, particularly Netflix and Hulu."

Hulu users watch a lot more TV than their Netflix counterparts. Here, a screenshot from one of their choices, "The Colbert Report."

At this exclusively streaming site that never had DVDs, Hulu watchers are definitely fans of the small screen, as they outnumber Netflix members 73 percent to 11 percent of respondents who said they use the services to watch TV shows. Movies are big in the Netflix world, with 53 percent of members using it to watch flicks, while only 9 percent of Hulu users do the same.

Twice as many Netflixers watch TV and movies equally (36 percent), in comparison to 18 percent over at Hulu.

Regardless of what they're watching, Netflix subscribers do so on a TV screen (58 percent) rather than on their computers, while Hulu users consume most of their viewing on a computer (89 percent).

You can read more about how viewers connect to Netflix and Hulu — especially through video game consoles — through this related story.

Hulu is free, but those who want to shell out $7.99 a month can upgrade to Hulu Plus, which yields even more movies and TV shows, through current seasons. Netflix also offers up to a month on a trial basis, while Hulu Plus only allows that option for students (two weeks for everyone else).

via Technolog from msnbc.com - Nielsen: Hulu users watch more TV than Netflix members.