That little price hike hiccup over the summer didn't seem to hurt Netflix very much.

It has become such a force among TV viewers that if it were a TV channel, it would rank an incredible 15th in overall viewership. That would put it in the top tier of broadcast and cable networks, among the likes of NBC, Univision, ESPN, TNT and USA.

And that's among all TV households.

Among households that subscribe to Netflix, the on-demand service would rank as the No. 2 network, behind only CBS.

So finds a study out this week from Richard Greenfield, an analyst with BTIG, a research and investing information firm.

The point: Traditional networks have good reason to fear Netflix.

"Netflix must be eating into traditional TV viewing time," Greenfield says in his report. "Netflix streaming usage is exploding and is far, far bigger than traditional media executives give it credit for."

The big question regarding Netflix has always been just what its eventual impact on traditional TV viewing might be.

What is the risk that the on-demand service will eventually steal away great hordes of folks who long turned to TV for their entertainment?

This report doesn't exactly answer the question, but it does quantify just how important Netflix has become to its subscribers, even taking into account the huge outrage over the summer when the service raised prices.

For many, Netflix is their primary source of entertainment. The service has more than 23 million subscribers, and while its subscriptions fell off at the end of last year after the pricing controversy, subscriptions are expected to grow again in the new year.

Netflix claims it streamed more than 2 billion hours of content during fourth quarter 2011.

According to Greenfield, that would account for 2.4 percent of all TV viewing, a startlingly high number considering the service is only in 21 percent of TV households.

By comparison, the Big Four networks each accounted for between 2.45 billion and 3.3 billion hours watched during that same three months. And those networks are available in every TV household.

One takeaway is that Netflix viewers are using the service much more heavily than non-Netflix viewers are watching television.

One huge advantage for Netflix, beyond the quality of its content, is that it's free of commercials.

That makes it more attractive than traditional TV, where any hour is disrupted with what's often a slew of commercials.

But it also has the effect of making Netflix viewers that much less tolerant of commercials during the times they do watch traditional TV. They become that much more sensitive to the disruptions.

Add to that the fact that Netflix is now commissioning its own original series, as opposed to simply acting as a clearinghouse for already-filmed content, and tensions between traditional media companies and the online rental service will continue to rise.