With more information becoming available, one must question how important the original programming and general content quality truly is for video streaming customers. Parks Associates recently conducted a study and found that customers are more satisfied with Netflix instant streaming than they are with premium broadcast television. Furthermore, consumers know that pay-TV video-on-demand is higher quality than Netflix, but the cost of Netflix makes it more appealing.
Amazon is still in a good position to compete, as the cost of its streaming services is comparable to the cost of a Netflix subscription. If original programming leads to higher costs, however, Amazon may be unable to benefit much from the introduction of original programming.
Parks Associates also announced another upsetting piece of news for companies like Time Warner, Comcast and Cablevision Systems. While the companies have begun using TV Everywhere to combat Netflix and other online streaming providers, its customers are largely unaware of the online services with TV Everywhere. This means that this initiative has very little potential to make an impact, since these companies are failing to get the word out. Comcast and Cablevision have done the best job, but only about 24% of their customers know about TV Everywhere. Time Warner was the worst in the report from Parks Associates, as only 12% of its customers were aware of TV Everywhere. This is great news for Netflix, Amazon, and other companies that offer online streaming, as the cable companies are doing a horrible job with promoting their online services. As investors realize this, it may have a negative effect of the stock prices for these cable companies.
From the article, "Netflix: Ready To Jump On 'Online Viewing'."
