Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

DirecTV is making an Android-powered streaming box. What gives?

“If (AT&T) had a box that came in at $35 or under, consumers would be interested,” Brett Sappington told me. He’s the senior director of research at Parks Associates, which pays extremely close attention to the over-the-top (OTT) — meaning Internet-based TV — space. “They’d buy it just to see if it worked.”

Sappington reasons that a new streaming box isn’t dead on arrival, so long as it has a stellar user interface, is feature-rich, is open to all TV app developers and is relatively cheap. An existing DirecTV Now customer, for instance, may be compelled to test out the company’s box if it promises better streaming performance — say, no buffering during any live streams — and comes with some sort of service-plus-box deal.

From the article "DirecTV is making an Android-powered streaming box. What gives?" by Jennifer Van Grove.

Previously In The News

Hulu Mounts Push To Draw And Keep Subscribers: Executive

Luring and keeping customers is becoming harder as the online streaming market gets more crowded and subscribers, freed from cable television's contract model, can cancel service with a click of the m...

In U.S., 40% Own a Set-Top Box, Over Half Own a Connected TV

In the United States, 40 percent of homes with broadband connectivity own a set-top box, while over half own a connected TV. However, set-top boxes see much greater use. This data comes from resear...

OTT At A Tipping Point, Poised For Rapid Growth

Parks Associates estimates that 86 million streaming media players will be sold globally in 2019. And as streaming subscriber counts continue to grow, the services will be better positioned to bid for...

Is Snapchat on the Way Out or Just Finding its Footing?

Predicting what will come for Snap Inc. is a hotter industry topic than trading iPhone rumors. The company's biggest problem isn't the notoriously fickle nature of its target demographic or even the w...