Providing Market Intelligence for 40 Years

In The News

Paid streaming for cheapskates is having a moment

“This is a lot of catalog content,” says Parks Associates entertainment research director Michael Goodman, using industry shorthand for titles making up Hollywood’s back catalogs.

“There is not one business model that fits everybody,” says Goodman. Adding ad-free streaming to its portfolio is a smart move for Roku, he argues. “You need to have multiple platforms to reach the consumer.”

If Howdy catches on, other free streamers may follow with their own paid plans, predicts Goodman. “There is potential for this to expand to other services.”

“Subscription growth at any cost — that’s not the model today,” says Goodman, alluding to the billions of dollars the industry poured into streaming a few years ago.

When services like Apple TV Plus and Peacock launched in 2019 and 2020, respectively, they bet on undercutting Netflix with deeply discounted subscription plans — only to double the costs of those plans in the following years.

Could the same eventually happen to Howdy subscribers? Goodman thinks so. “Over time, the price will rise,” he says.

From the article, "Paid streaming for cheapskates is having a moment" by Janko Roettgers

Previously In The News

Parks: US Churn Rate For OTT Services Is 19%

This is according to Parks Associates’ latest ‘OTT Video Market Tracker’ stats, which said that overall churn rate for OTT services has been roughly stable for the past year. At the end of 2015, 20...

AT&T gooses $45 prepaid plan with cheaper iPhones

And, as a recent report from Parks Associates noted, consumers are increasingly drawn to the simplified pricing offers in prepaid. The firm said that “currently postpaid carriers are starting to explo...

One in five US subscribers now ‘dissatisfied’ with pay TV service

Some 20% of US pay TV subscribers are now dissatisfied with their pay TV service, according to research from Parks Associates. The future represents a 100% increase since 2013, according to Parks....

Comcast says traditional TV viewing is up, but subscribers are down across the board

According to a recent report on TV viewership from Parks Associates, 20% of US broadband households don't have a pay-TV service, while 12% of those homes cut the cord in 2018. The report found that f...