Providing Market Intelligence for 40 Years

In The News

Google Chromecast’s surprising origins—and uncertain future

New research out this week from Parks Associates found that Chromecast makes up just 11% of all streaming players installed in the United States, down from 21% three years ago. Meanwhile, Roku’s U.S. install base is up to 39%, and Amazon Fire TV has climbed to 30%.

Kristen Hanich, a senior analyst at Parks Associates, says that when the firm tested consumer perception of the four largest streaming platforms (Chromecast, Fire TV, Roku, and Apple TV), it found that Chromecast ranked last in ease of use, content support, and ease of finding content. That’s largely because of its reliance on a phone for navigation.

From the article "Google Chromecast’s surprising origins—and uncertain future" by Jared Newman.

Previously In The News

Finally: Every Baseball Team’s Sports Network Is Available On At Least One Streaming Service

As YouTube TV’s recent rate hike shows, these services themselves are not immune to rising programming costs. And the same traits that make streaming much less customer-hostile than cable or satellite...

Netflix Earnings Preview: Is Streaming Video Giant Still Snagging New Subscribers?

On top of that, the industry churn rate—a metric used to reflect cancelled subscriptions to streaming services overall—shot up 41% in Q1, the most recent statistic available, as consumers experimented...

A Challenge For Video Streamers Will Be Keeping Subscribers

A Parks Associates analysis reported that SVOD churn rate dropped from 46% in third quarter 2019 to 38% in third quarter 2020. Among recent launches, the churn rate of Disney+ was at 13%, and HBO Max,...

Amazon's Alexa Speaks To The Connected Home

The Amazon Echo (more commonly known as “Alexa” based on the keyword voice command that triggers the female-sounding response) came on the market in November of 2014 to generally positive acclaim. The...