How Much Time Can You Save By Ditching Cable TV?

Advertising Disclosure: When you buy something by clicking links on our site, we may earn a small commission, but it never affects the products or services we recommend.

Image Not Available

Ditching cable TV for a streaming video service like Netflix can save you a lot more than money.

The average Netflix subscriber is spared 158.5 hours of commercials per year compared with cable TV subscribers, according to a recent analysis by CordCutting.com.

That’s about 6.6 days — or about four 40-hour work weeks — of commercials.

Netflix is an ad-free service for which users pay a monthly fee that currently ranges from $7.99 to $11.99. It’s available in more than 190 countries.

Here are the Netflix numbers on which CordCutting.com based its analysis, and the sources of those numbers:

  • There are 75 million Netflix subscribers, according to figures the company announced to shareholders earlier this year.
  • Netflix subscribers stream 125 million hours of video content per day, according to statistics Netflix founder and chief executive Reed Hastings announced at a conference earlier this year.
  • A typical hour of cable TV includes 15 minutes and 38 seconds of commercials, according to Nielsen.

Cordcutting.com concludes:

With some help from the DVR, Netflix has changed the TV advertising game by taking tons of customers away from live TV. … [I]t’s clear that Netflix’s commercial-free model is making a huge impact on the industry and on the ad consumption of its subscribers. And, according to our calculations, Netflix’s impact on the advertising world is only becoming greater.

CordCutting.com reports that its analysis was inspired by a similar analysis published in August by Exstreamist.com, which found that Netflix subscribers were spared more than 130 hours of commercials per year.

If you’re ready to ditch cable or satellite TV, check out “How to Choose the Right Cord-Cutting TV Service.”

If you want to ditch paid TV entirely, check out “17 Places You Can (Legally) Download or Stream Free Movies and TV.”

How many days or hours of commercials do you think you watch every year? Let us know below or over on our Facebook page.

Get smarter with your money!

Want the best money-news and tips to help you make more and spend less? Then sign up for the free Money Talks Newsletter to receive daily updates of personal finance news and advice, delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for our free newsletter today.