Communications and Entertainment Services

Consumers: Expanding Tech Support provides research and analysis of consumer experiences, preferences, and expectations for premium home technical support services. This consumer research project helps service providers, retailers, OEMs, software vendors, and third-party providers understand the consumer mindset as it relates to tech support, resulting in new and successful marketing and sales strategies.

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Written by Brett L. Sappington, Director of Research

As part of our work on the recently released TV Everywhere: Growth, Solutions, and Strategies (2nd Ed.) - North America report, we analyzed consumer survey data to find actual awareness and use of TV Everywhere services among subscribers of US and Canadian operators. We found that awareness among subscribers was under 25% for most operators and usage was under 12%. A surprisingly small - ...read more

Parks Associates announced the conference sessions and opening keynote for the CONNECTIONS™ at TIA 2012 Conference, the leading event for service providers, device manufacturers, and advanced technology companies working on solutions for the connected consumer. CONNECTIONS™: The Digital Living Conference & Showcase, co-located with TIA 2012: Inside the Network Conference and Exhibition, takes places June 5-7 in Dallas, Texas. ...read more

Google Inc. is developing a home-entertainment system that streams music wirelessly throughout the home and would be marketed under the company's own brand.

The effort marks a sharp shift in strategy for Google, which for the first would time would design and market consumer electronic devices under the Google brand. Google has up to now mainly focused on developing the operating system that powers devices such as smartphones, tablets and televisions and allowing other companies - ...read more

Of all global markets, Latin America is the fastest growing market for pay-TV services, increasing by 18% between 2010 and 2011. Fueled by growing economies and foreign investment (particularly from Western Europe), Latin America is a hotbed for television delivery systems and services. OTT services are also popping up across the landscape to take advantage of the growth potential. As operators in Latin America invest in new technologies, expect to see advanced TV features emerge that - ...read more

Consumer viewership of online video dramatically increased in the past few years, and this trend will continue in 2012. Nearly 70% of U.S. broadband households viewed online video on their PCs at least monthly in 2011, compared to 38% in 2006. Netflix recently announced that its members around the world viewed more than 2 billion hours of content in Q4 2011 alone. Consumers acquired an increasing number of platforms they can use to watch - ...read more

The potential loss of basic video customers to online sources, the so-called "cord-cutting" phenomenon, was a prominent trend in 2010, made all the more critical by rising rates of online video viewership. Parks Associates' Digital Video: Three Screens and Beyond found consumers are increasingly using online resources to watch premium video such as TV shows and movies. At the same time, there is an erosion of - ...read more

The digital revolution is changing the way people view traditional television shows and Internet video by evolving how programs are delivered to consumers. The revolution is also changing how shows are made and who makes them. Netflix Inc., for example is about to produce its first original show, and Google Inc.'s YouTube is getting ready to launch a series of channels to host - ...read more

In advance of the IBC 2011 conference, Parks Associates released new research today revealing consumers in Western Europe value multidevice access to recorded TV programs over other new video services, including access to live TV.

Given a choice of new TV features, including 3DTV, online video access, and multiscreen services, 47% of broadband households - ...read more

Fresh standards are being established for smart TVs as television manufacturers and service providers cater to increasing consumer demand for internet-delivered content and apps in the living room.

At this month’s IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin, Sony is to demonstrate a simpler version of the Google TV service, being made available next year outside the US for the first time, while LG, Philips and Sharp announced the first alliance of TV makers to establish common - ...read more