In The News

Hacking concerns are high among consumers, particularly those who own connected devices. Worry that their computers could be hacked, and their broadband connections too, is high, said a new report from Parks Associates, "Consumer Fears in Connected Entertainment."

Three out of four households in the U.S. (75 percent) said they are worried about their computer being hacked, while 77 percent said they are "very concerned" about someone hacking into their online connection.

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Parks Associates in May estimated that over 10% of the 65+ population will own a PERS -- for Personal Emergency Response System -- device by 2021, and that figure will jump to 15% for seniors 75 and over. By that year, more than 56 million Americans will be 65 and over.

That’s good growth, but still leaves a lot of elderly people who won’t be using wearables. Jennifer Kent, director of research quality and product development at Parks, earlier told Marketing Daily that the “ ...read more

By another measure -- active accounts -- Amazon claims to have surpassed Roku. It reported 25 million active Fire TV users in June of 2018, while Roku claimed 23.8 million active accounts in Q3.

Meanwhile, Alphabet has seen its solutions lose market share. Only 14% of respondents to a survey by market researcher Parks Associates said they used an Alphabet streaming device in 2018, down from 18% in 2017.

From the article "Android TV's Quiet Fight for Market Share" by Step ...read more

Research from Parks Associates finds 28% of U.S. broadband households with a smart speaker utilize a voice assistant to control a smart home device, compared to only 12% that use the device to control an entertainment device.

From the article "Smart Speakers Increasingly Used to Control Smart Home Products."

According to Parks Associates, online streaming paid-TV services have grown significantly in the past two to three years. Two types companies offer online streaming TV services: There are traditional players such as AT&T, Dish Network, Comcast, and Charter, then there are a number of new companies which include YouTube TV, Philo, and Fubu.

From the article "Netflix, Disney, and other media giants will battle over streaming in 2019" by Sibile Marcellus.

The share of U.S. households that acquire their TV signals via over-the-air antenna increased to 20 percent—or about 24 million homes—from 16 percent from early 2015 through the end of 2017, according to Parks Associates data from March.

From the article "Diginets Come Of Age" by Paige Albiniak.

Despite Netflix’s subscriber base trumping or rivaling (HBO) most pay-TV services, broadcast TV still generates the majority of home entertainment consumption — among broadband households, according to data from Parks Associates.

While the Addison, Texas-based research firm sought to highlight the fact broadband homes consume five hours of streaming video weekly, the data underscored the fact traditional distribution channels continue resonate.

From the article "Parks: B ...read more

"Cirrent raises the bar on Wi-Fi user experience for connected products. Adding Cirrent technology to automate Wi-Fi provisioning improves both the customer experience and the security of all the Wi-Fi products in the home, which benefits both network operators and consumers," said Arsham Hatambeiki, Senior Vice President of Product and Technology at Universal Electronics Inc. (UEI).

“Half of the consumers experience problems when setting up smart home products,” said Tom Ke ...read more