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

34% of Pay-TV Subs Altered Service in Past Year – Study

Leading entertainment research firm Parks Associates reports approximately one-third of pay-TV subscribers in U.S. broadband households changed their pay-TV services between 1Q 2017 and 1Q 2018. Fifte...

‘Game of Thrones’ series finale is approaching. How will HBO survive after it?

Brett Sappington, senior director at the research firm Parks Associates in Addison, Texas, said another positive sign is how HBO Now subscriptions continued to grow in 2017 — after “Game of Thrones” f...

TV antennas are making a comeback in the age of digital streaming

Billy Nayden, an analyst for the research firm Parks Associates, said the TV antenna resurgence is a byproduct of consumers feeling overwhelmed by the many viewing platforms available. Some are even s...

In a crowded market, smaller streaming services must stand out — or perish

Tubi is part of a wave of streaming services that has flooded the U.S. market; some of them cater to the general masses and others are specifically focused on genres like horror or anime. Over the las...