Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

Hulu to launch non-stop customer service as it readies live TV

The increased spending on customer service comes as Hulu is about to go head-to-head with internet channels that offer live TV from AT&T's DirecTVNow and Dish Network Corp's Sling TV.

The services have had hiccups - like shows freezing, viewers getting error messages and system crashes. Their owners also have large customer service staffs already handling calls from their traditional pay TV customers, said Brett Sappington, senior director of research at Parks Associates.

The stakes are high for Hulu, which has a customer defection rate of 50 percent, according to Parks Associates, a Dallas-based market research firm.

"Live TV is a challenge particularly for events like the Super Bowl and the Oscars which draw millions of subscribers all at the same time," Sappington said. "You are never sure what's going to break until you have a few million people watching at the same time."

From the article "Hulu to launch non-stop customer service as it readies live TV".

Previously In The News

DirecTV breaks free from AT&T

“Although AT&T starts with a 70% stake in DirecTV, they will likely wind down their investment over time,” said Steve Nason, research director for Addison, Texas-based consulting firm Parks Associates...

Google developing next-gen Chromecast streamer

Turning the new Chromecast into a fully fledged Android TV device could also be an important retail addition as Google attempts to cut into the streaming platform lead of Roku (36.9 million active acc...

CuriosityStream Expands Its OTT Video Model

The experimentation with business models can help draw new subs and provide a point of differentiation, added Brett Sappington, senior director of research at Parks Associates . He said three SVoD...

Amazon Cooking Up DVR for Fire TV – Report

Despite recent gains by Fire TV, Roku maintained its lead in the streaming media player market as of Q1 2018, according to Parks Associates . Roku held 37% of the market, ahead of Amazon, Google and A...