Netflix users connecting with game consoles: study

Half of all Netflix users connect to the popular US video streaming service using a game console, according to a survey published on Wednesday.

The Nielsen survey looked at the viewing behavior of users of Netflix and Hulu, a website owned by Disney, NBC Universal and News Corp which offers movies and television shows on demand.

Forty-two percent of the 12,000 people surveyed by Nielsen in March said they watch movies and TV shows from Netflix directly on their computers.

But a majority of Netflix users said they watch the service on a TV screen, connecting using a Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation 3 or Xbox from Microsoft.

The vast majority of Hulu users - 89 percent - said they watch the service directly on a computer.

Hulu users tend to watch TV shows while Netflix viewers opt for movies, Nielsen found.

Seventy-three percent of Hulu users said they primarily view TV shows compared to 11 percent of Netflix users.

Fifty-three percent of Netflix users said they primarily watch movies, compared to nine percent of Hulu users.

Netflix has more than 25 million subscribers in the United States and Canada and has announced plans to expand to Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Apple is looking into a possible acquisition of Hulu, which was founded in 2008 and is currently only available in the United States.