It's the embodiment of "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em": Researcher Parks Associates released data today showing that 21 percent of pay TV subscribers in the U.S. also subscribe to a streaming service through their pay TV provider. If that doesn't sound like many, consider that only 10 percent did so one year ago. This shows cable and satellite companies see the inevitability of over-the-top services, and have decided it makes more sense to add streaming services to their platforms rather than fighting them. Consumers appreciate unified billing, so this move is a win for subscribers, as well, who can pay one monthly bill for multiple services.
Not that all the news is good for pay TV, however: Parks revealed that 77 percent of U.S. households now have a pay TV subscription, down from 86 percent in 2015. There's a feeling in the industry that this number is close to reaching its bottom, so perhaps a plateau is coming.
While some households get their OTT services from a pay TV provider, the reverse is also true: Parks says almost 18 percent of homes with a cable channels get them through an online video service, such as Sling TV, DirecTV Now, or Hulu With Live TV.
From the article "Pay TV Meets OTT: 1 in 5 Get Streaming Service Through Pay TV" by Troy Dreier.
When it comes to predicting when the smart home will become a mainstream phenomenon, we’ve repeatedly missed the mark. Some of us have enjoyed the benefits—and dealt with the few headaches—of living i...
US broadband households watch an average of 3.8 hours of internet video on TV screens each week, accounting for 20 percent of all video viewed on this device, according to research by Parks Associates...
Several recent studies have shown that security and privacy are top of mind for consumers considering Internet of Things devices for their homes. Parks Associates back in October noted around 40 pe...
Other barriers for increasing adoption are concerns about security and privacy. With more reports in mainstream media about smart home devices being hacked, the public awareness of this issue has incr...
