Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

On a Netflix free trial? A third of you will likely pay up

Almost one out of three people who use a free trial to try out a streaming video service end up subscribing, researcher Parks Associates said Monday.

That "sizeable portion" of trial users dwarfs the amount of people who abuse free try-outs, Parks senior analyst Glenn Hower said.

"There is a potential for free trial abuse, but only roughly 1 percent of consumers are 'serial trialers,'" he said. "Most consumers use trials for their intended purpose of trying out a service before deciding whether or not to continue as a paid subscriber."

Services, such as Hulu, Netflix and live-TV streamers like Sling TV, often offer a free period, one of the consumer-friendly patterns that have become standard for online video competitors -- and have made it easier for people get a sense of life as a cord-cutter. Traditional TV providers like cable and satellite have grappled with dwindling customer growth as more people opt for online alternatives.

From the article "On a Netflix free trial? A third of you will likely pay up" by Joan E. Solsman.

Previously In The News

Doorbell live-cams fight back against porch pirates filching packages

For years, home security has been relatively expensive, with homeowners paying an average of $44 per month for a professionally installed and monitored system. About 22 percent of U.S. homeowners subs...

Nest, now a Google subsidiary, starts selling video doorbell

Nest’s doorbell, called Nest Hello, marks its first entry into the $334 million video doorbell market, according to 2017 data from research firm Parks Associates. Last month, Amazon announced it had p...

The Smart Home Hub is not dead, but evolving

Smart home technologies are beginning to enjoy their day in the sun, with adoption levels rising across the board. One recent research report from Parks Associates claims that 17% of US broadband hous...

Alexa and other smart speakers may endanger privacy rights

According to a May report from the consultancy Parks Associates, 27 percent of U.S. homes with a broadband internet connection owned at least one smart speaker, yet about 45 percent of their owners “s...