Surprise! More than 70 percent of North American traffic is streaming video and audio. According to a new Sandvine report, real-time entertainment has grown more than 35 percent in five years.
Netflix (37.1 percent), YouTube (17.9 percent), HTTP (6.1 percent), and Amazon Video (3.1 percent) account for the most video traffic on fixed access networks; all three saw an increase in the last few months.
"[This] further underscores both the growing role these streaming services play in the lives of subscribers, and the need for service providers to have solutions to help deliver a quality experience when using them," Sandvine CEO Dave Caputo said in a statement.
File-sharing site BitTorrent, meanwhile, continued to see a decline in its bandwidth share—it now accounts for only 5 percent of total traffic in North America, compared to 7 percent in 2014.
Apple iTunes, Hulu, and Facebook—with its autoplaying videos—also ranked among the top 10 sources of downloads.
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In terms of mobile apps, YouTube and Facebook rule, while Snapchat remains the leading third-party messaging service, generating more traffic each day than competitors like WhatsApp. It even surpasses real-time entertainment giants Netflix and Pandora, as well as Instagram and Google.
Still, streaming video is where it's at, according to Sandvine. "Streaming video has grown at such a rapid pace in North America that the leading service in 2015, Netflix, now has a greater share of traffic than all of streaming audio and video did five years ago," Caputo said.
Don't expect it to slow down any time soon. Netflix has become an international streaming phenomenon, earning critical and public acclaim for its original programming. Fans of shows like Jessica Jones, House of Cards, Orange Is the New Black, Narcos, and Master of None can expect even more hits in the coming year. As reported by Broadcasting & Cable, the company intends to double its original scripted shows to reach 31 next year; it also has 10 feature films, 30 kids shows, 12 documentaries, and 10 stand-up specials on tap.
Netflix did not immediately respond to PCMag's request for comment.