Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

Streaming wars will force media companies to choose between pricey subscriptions and ads

Parks Associates, a research firm that tracks the connected home, found in a recent survey that one-third of U.S. broadband households use a free, ad-based streaming service, up from 24% a year earlier.

“Consumers are turning to ad-supported streaming services as subscription fatigue continues to settle in,” Brandon Riney, a researcher at Parks, told CNBC in an email. “When discussing attitudes regarding ads on these streaming services, more consumers are willing to endure the ads to watch the content than completely resisting them.”

“As the purse strings of OTT consumers tighten, there is tremendous opportunity for free ad-based services to thrive,” wrote Steve Nason, an analyst at Parks Associates, in a post in November. “A service can establish a foothold in this space by delivering a unique offering of high-quality content in an engaging advertising-based environment.”

From the article "Streaming wars will force media companies to choose between pricey subscriptions and ads" by Megan Graham.

Previously In The News

The streaming wars are flooding us with TV

Password sharing cost streaming companies about $9.1 billion last year, according to data from the research firm Parks Associates. From the article "The streaming wars are flooding us with TV".

Google Chromecast’s surprising origins—and uncertain future

New research out this week from Parks Associates found that Chromecast makes up just 11% of all streaming players installed in the United States, down from 21% three years ago. Meanwhile, Roku’s U.S....

Netflix saw subscribers drop post-lockdown. But Disney+ might not face the same fate

Like all streaming services, Disney+ saw strong growth during the pandemic but competitor Netflix reported losing subscribers last quarter. But Disney+ is cheaper than Netflix – an increasingly import...

Apple releases new streaming TV devices with lower prices

Still, many customers appear drawn to cheaper sticks and pucks made by Roku and Amazon, with the companies commanding 80% of the streaming device market, according to new research shared by Parks...