Providing Market Intelligence for 40 Years

In The News

On a Netflix free trial? A third of you will likely pay up

Almost one out of three people who use a free trial to try out a streaming video service end up subscribing, researcher Parks Associates said Monday.

That "sizeable portion" of trial users dwarfs the amount of people who abuse free try-outs, Parks senior analyst Glenn Hower said.

"There is a potential for free trial abuse, but only roughly 1 percent of consumers are 'serial trialers,'" he said. "Most consumers use trials for their intended purpose of trying out a service before deciding whether or not to continue as a paid subscriber."

Services, such as Hulu, Netflix and live-TV streamers like Sling TV, often offer a free period, one of the consumer-friendly patterns that have become standard for online video competitors -- and have made it easier for people get a sense of life as a cord-cutter. Traditional TV providers like cable and satellite have grappled with dwindling customer growth as more people opt for online alternatives.

From the article "On a Netflix free trial? A third of you will likely pay up" by Joan E. Solsman.

Previously In The News

Hub Research Finds an OTT Tipping Point

Hub said this year marked the first time since it began tracking viewing patterns in 2014 that viewers are "more likely to say they watch a recently discovered favorite show from an online source than...

Standalone Pay TV Service ARPU Declined 10% From 2016-2018: Research Company

"Traditional pay TV providers (MVPDs) have faced continued subscriber losses due to increasing consumer choice from OTT services, so they are deploying skinny bundles and vMVPD services to create more...

Hulu Adds (Mostly) Ad-Free Subscription Service

Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins chalked up the exceptions to rights held by studios on select series. “They have other commitments that they couldn’t free them up for a complete commercial-free offering,” he sa...

22 percent of smartwatch owners plan to use it for home control, automation

Parks Associates analysts say that mobile devices are becoming the de facto controllers for home automation, with apps as the critical interface between the user and the home. For example, nearly 50%...