By ERIK GRUENWEDEL
Source: www.mediaplaynews.com, July 2021
Parks Associates disclosed that 82% of U.S. broadband households subscribe to at least one OTT service, up six points year-over-year, while 58% subscribe to a traditional pay-TV service, down four points year-over-year.
“The steady rise in online pay-TV adoption has made up for some of the significant drops in traditional pay-TV,” Steve Nason, research director for Parks Associates, said in a statement. “Video consumers are looking to online pay-TV services to offer a similar viewing experience and content offering at a lower price point. However, online providers, who don’t typically generate content on their own, have had trouble stabilizing subscriber costs as content fees continue to rise.”
Subscribe HERE to the FREE Media Play News Daily Newsletter!
Dallas-based Parks reports that 25% of domestic broadband households subscribe to a TV service offering a bundle of live channels via an online provider, including 13% who have both traditional and online pay-TV services. Adoption of online TV increased four percentage points to 18% in Q1 2021. As cord-cutters or cord-nevers look for a more live/linear video viewing experience online, online service uptake has picked up.
“The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated many existing trends in the video services market,” Nason said. “Moving forward, consumer preferences will continue to shift online as video viewers perceive these services to be less costly, more convenient, and more aligned with how they want to consume video programming.”
