Providing Market Intelligence for 40 Years

In The News

Study Finds Sports Is King Among Livestreamers

Events that are streamed live on the net are growing in popularity among internet households, especially live sports, according to a study released by Parks Associates.

The report, “Livestreaming: The Next Hot Video Market,” indicates that more than 40% of U.S. internet households have streamed content over the past three months. More than three out of five households (61%) were watching a streaming sports event.

The study also found that consumers who livestream spend about half their online video time watching live events.

“Traditionally, live sports programming has performed well,” observed Parks Contributing Analyst Eric Sorensen

However, “pre- and post-event programming does not perform nearly as well in terms of ratings as the actual event itself,” he told TechNewsWorld. “These facts apply to both linear television and live streaming platforms.”

Sorensen explained that live sports programming is migrating to online platforms as more rights become available.

“Numerous streaming providers continue to outbid one another for coveted sports media rights,” he said. “Sports consumers do not want to miss ‘water cooler’ moments with their favorite sports teams.”

Sorensen noted that Hulu with Live TV, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ are key providers that now offer live streaming services that are challenging Netflix’s leadership position in the OTT ecosystem.

He maintained that offering live streaming content is not just a chance for Netflix to acquire new subscribers, but also to retain existing ones. “Sixty-four percent of Netflix subscribers currently live stream content on other services,” he explained. “By livestreaming, Netflix could retain longer engagement with its service.”

“This is particularly important in light of Netflix’s recent earnings call announcing their expectation that they will lose millions of subscribers in 2022,” he said. “There are several opportunities for a service like Netflix to provide egaming, esports, and red-carpet premiere events as livestreaming entertainment, in addition to sports and news.”

From the article, "Study Finds Sports Is King Among Livestreamers by John P. Mello Jr.

Previously In The News

Are Your Smart-Lock Codes Safe? Survey Says Probably Not

According to a 2022 report by consumer tech research firm Parks Associates, about 12 million households had a smart door lock, and that figure has only increased since then.  From the article, "Are...

Comcast’s StreamSaver bundle ups price to $18 a month

Parks Associates published its “State of Streaming” report, which revealed service bundling to be the fastest growing enticement for consumers to switch telecom services. Also interesting: Base...

5 Things to Know: November 22

A new white paper from Parks Associates, developed in partnership with Schneider Electric, highlights consumer behavior around managing energy use with smart home devices — including smart lightin...

U.S. Streaming Rides Into 2026 on Wave of Uncertainty, Says Parks Associates

The state of streaming is strong — but consumer sentiment is iffy, and new models are being deployed to fight off churn. Such is the video business described by research company Parks Associate...