Dive Brief:
- A study by Parks Associates found that 31% of broadband enabled U.S. households have more than one over-the-top (OTT) service and 63% have at least one subscription as reported by StreamingMedia.com.
- For households with multiple OTT subscriptions, the most common combination was Netflix and Amazon Video with 12% of broadband households subscribing to that combo.
- Parks Associates' OTT Video Market Tracker service identifies service stacking as an important step in the growth of the U.S. OTT video services marketplace, according to Brett Sappington, senior director of research for Parks.
Dive Insight:
The study forecasts continued industry growth because of consumer willingness to subscribe to multiple OTT services. The report also pointed out that 2016 average OTT spending reached $7.95, an amount similar to the lowest tier for Netflix and Hulu. That figure also compares to a mere $0.80 for monthly video downloads by broadband-enabled households. Parks said that consumers can expect more news about OTT services and live broadcasts this year as Hulu, YouTube and others are expected to launch new services in 2017.
The results of Parks’ research underscore the challenge facing linear TV in meeting the challenge of an increasingly fractured video viewing landscape. It also should serve as a guide for marketers on where to reach an audience that previously could be reliably found on traditional broadcast TV, but is now just as likely, if not more so, to be watching video content on OTT services or even social media platforms.
