Providing Market Intelligence for 40 Years

In The News

Pay TV Meets OTT: 1 in 5 Get Streaming Service Through Pay TV

It's the embodiment of "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em": Researcher Parks Associates released data today showing that 21 percent of pay TV subscribers in the U.S. also subscribe to a streaming service through their pay TV provider. If that doesn't sound like many, consider that only 10 percent did so one year ago. This shows cable and satellite companies see the inevitability of over-the-top services, and have decided it makes more sense to add streaming services to their platforms rather than fighting them. Consumers appreciate unified billing, so this move is a win for subscribers, as well, who can pay one monthly bill for multiple services.

Not that all the news is good for pay TV, however: Parks revealed that 77 percent of U.S. households now have a pay TV subscription, down from 86 percent in 2015. There's a feeling in the industry that this number is close to reaching its bottom, so perhaps a plateau is coming.

While some households get their OTT services from a pay TV provider, the reverse is also true: Parks says almost 18 percent of homes with a cable channels get them through an online video service, such as Sling TV, DirecTV Now, or Hulu With Live TV.

From the article "Pay TV Meets OTT: 1 in 5 Get Streaming Service Through Pay TV" by Troy Dreier.

Previously In The News

Device UI Important to Consumers When Making a Purchase: Parks

Parks Associates' research found that an easy-to-navigate UI is crucial for attracting new customers. Asked about UI, 70% of consumer electronics purchasers said ease-of-use was "very important" to th...

One-Third of U.S. Broadband Households Have Multiple OTT Subs

According to the researchers at Parks Associates, 31 percent of all U.S. broadband-enabled homes have multiple over-the-top (OTT) service subscriptions. Also, 63 percent subscribe to at least one OTT...

The State of Live Video 2017

To get an idea where live video will go in 2017, we spoke to two experts: Mark Peters, a partner with IBB Consulting Group, and Brett Sappington, senior director of research for Parks Associates. C...

SmartThings Bundling Hubs In Effort To Play Up Smart Home Use Cases, Not Products

The independent home automation hub is fading as a means to a do-it-yourself smart home purchase, Robert Parker, SmartThings senior vice president-engineering, told us after his keynote at the Parks’...