Nearly 60% of U.S. Broadband Homes Use OTT Video Services



Source: Ovum Research

With over-the-top video all the rage and media companies throwing pay-TV caution to the wind in search of 10 million broadband-only households, subscription streaming services are reaping the fruits.

About 57% of consumers in U.S. broadband households subscribe to an OTT video service, such as Netflix or Hulu Plus, according to new research from Parks Associates. The average U.S. broadband household now spends $9 per month on subscription streaming services, up from $7 in 2012.

Parks found that nearly 50 million streaming media players will be sold worldwide by 2017. Homes with children spend on average 90% more on OTT services and digital video than homes with no children. More than 75% of streaming media player owners have an OTT subscription.

"The number of hours watching video content continues to rise, exceeding 36 hours per week in 2014, with Internet video accounting for 36% of that time, or about 13.3 hours a week," Brett Sappington, director of research at Parks, said in a statement.

Indeed, with the recent launch of HBO Now and subsequent access on Sling TV in time for the April 12 bow of the fifth season of HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” SVOD use is only expected to surge. Consumer uptake of OTT video is expected reach 100 million this year, with a further 77 million more expected by 2019, according to research firm Ovum.

Home entertainment is evolving as SVOD reaches critical mass. It is now commonplace to watch original online productions such Amazon Prime Instant Video’s “Bosch” and Golden Globe-winning “Transparent” on the TV. The emergence of standalone streaming propositions such as PlayStation Vue and Sling TV represent the first substitutes for traditional pay-TV.

“What we’re seeing in maturing markets such as the U.S. is that the audience is shifting towards premium linear streaming, which is augmenting well-established free on-demand services such as YouTube,” Tony Gunnarsson, senior analyst at Ovum, said in a statement.



