DALLAS – A total of 57 percent of U.S. broadband households subscribe to an over-the-top (OTT) video service, and 7 percent of broadband households, or 8.4 million, subscribe to at least one OTT video service but not to a pay-TV service, a Parks Associates survey found.
The 7 percent includes consumers who discontinued pay-TV service and those who never subscribed to pay TV, Parks said. In other Western nations, the figure is 4 percent or less.
Although pay-TV operators are introducing their own OTT services to appeal to consumers who don’t subscribe to pay TV, “the OTT video-services marketplace continues its rapid rate of change, impacting the video ecosystem across world markets,” said research director Brett Sappington.
“While operator attempts at TV Everywhere have made little impact, OTT video services are experiencing a boom,” he said. “A variety of new players are entering the market, and operators including Dish Networks, Rogers Communication, Bell Canada and Sky are responding with OTT video services of their own.”
Although “avid video consumers are still taking pay-TV services if they can afford them,” he said, “companies in the video ecosystem are eager to reach those consumers who are currently falling through the pay-TV cracks.”