Children will be the catalyst behind Netflix’s growth

It’s the general consensus that pyjama-clad millennials make up the majority of Netflix’s audience, but according to a new Bloomberg report looking at data from Goldman Sachs analysts, children could fast become its main demographic.

As more and more children have access to tablets and smartphones, Netflix has invested heavily in content to suit them. Goldman analyst Heath Terry has claimed that right now, only 3% of Netflix viewers are children, wrote, “which leads us to believe that (1) the kids opportunity is large, and (2) Netflix is under-penetrated.”

Additionally Goldman’s team notes that, having grown up in an on-demand world, children have little patience for scheduled TV, preferring to access their favourite TV shows at the click of a mouse instead.

Goldman says: “Kids aged 0 to 8 in the U.S. are increasingly gaining access to mobile devices, as 75% of kids now have access … compared to 52% just two years ago, according to Common Sense Media. Interestingly, 7% of kids already have their own tablets, and to put this into perspective, only 8% of adults had their own tablets just two years ago.”

But kids aren’t the only thing driving Netfilx’s growth according to the Goldman analysts – the service is expanding internationl into six more European countries this year, with a further two to four expected in 2015. Goldman estimates that Netflix could have more than 62 million international subscribers by 2017, compared to just 13 million now.

“At $8.99, Netflix could increasingly come to be viewed as a high value add-on to a wireless data plan for any number of devices,” the Goldman analysts suggested.