Parks Associates Examines the Lifecycle of OTT Video Services

Households subscribing to three or more Internet video services is one of the fastest-growing segments in the US OTT space, growing from 10% of broadband households in 2016 to 15% in 2017.

According to a study by Parks Associates y Seachange almost 40% of households with hip band andn The United States has at least two subscriptions to OTT video services. The research firm notes that consumers have reached a new stage in connected entertainment where OTT is a standard source of video and viewers are more willing to experiment with multiple OTT services.

Brett Sappington, senior director of research at Parks Associates, said: "Every product or service has a natural market life cycle that reflects the state of adoption, competition and development of the market. OTT video is no exception, as services evolve to adapt to a rapidly changing market. Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and other players have gone from simple subscription-based services to creators of award-winning original content such as House of Cards, Manchester by the Sea and The Handmaid's Tale. Understanding the life cycle “The life of OTT video services allows market participants to better position their offerings and market strategy for both today and the future.”

For his part, Marek Kiełczewski, global vice president of engineering at Seachange, argues that "whether OTT is friend or foe depends on who you ask. However, there is consensus in the media and entertainment industry that OTT is the future of video. The increasing adoption of thin packages and D2C offerings is a clear indication that a 'wait and see' or 'do nothing' strategy is extremely risky. With 25 years of video experience, “SeaChange helps service providers, network operators and content owners narrow the OTT gap, understand their viewers and create sustainable business and monetization models.”

According to Parks Associates research, 50% of US broadband households watch full-length online video content on a connected TV to the Internet. The international research firm also reveals that 69% of US households have one OTT subscription while 38% have two or more subscriptions.

Households subscribing to three or more Internet video services is one of the fastest-growing segments in the US OTT space, growing from 10% of broadband households in 2016 to 15% in 2017.

In the last 30 days, nearly half of US broadband households have accessed video content from a subscription OTT service; 31% accessed free content.