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

Top Smartwatch Daily Activities: Fitness Tracking, Notifications

The idea of consumers treating smartwatches as voice communication devices to make and receive phone calls hasn’t quite materialized. Rather, smartwatches are being used more as devices for activit...

Sony Goes All In on PlayStation

Sony has also been trying to make the PS4 a set-top box. Channel packages for its PlaySation Vue streaming-TV service start at $30 a month in some places and include programming from U.S. broadcast ne...

Can Samsung Kill Siri?

Today, 40% of smartphone owners already use digital assistants, according to a recent survey conducted by Parks Associates. Not surprising, millennials are most likely to partake (46%), but -- as the...

63% In U.S. Say They Are Not Aware Of Virtual Reality

The study from Parks Associates found that more than half (63%) of U.S. households say they are not familiar with or know nothing about VR. Younger generations appear to be more familiar with virtu...