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

Top 5 Alternatives to the Best Wired Doorbell Camera for Enhanced Home Security

A survey by Parks Associates revealed that 28% of consumers consider installation difficulty a major barrier to adopting wired surveillance technologies.  From the Joytimer article, "Top 5 Alternat...

TV Upfronts 2025: Themes and Takeaways

Parks Associates research shows that the streaming stack has been flat for several years, with streaming video subscription plateauing at 89% of US households and each streaming household subscribing...

Is AI branding backfiring?

Recent findings, including a study by Parks Associates, reveal a paradox that marketers must tackle: branding a product as “AI-powered” may alienate more consumers than it attracts. Parks Associate...

The Education of Roku’s Anthony Wood

As viewers across America embraced streaming TV, the number of households watching TV on Roku-powered devices mushroomed from 9.2 million to 90 million between 2015 and 2024. Its platform revenue expl...