New research from Parks Associates shows that 21% of US pay TV subscribers say they subscribe to an online video service through their pay TV provider, up from 10% a year ago. The research firm attributes this jump to the increasing number of partnerships between pay TV and OTT providers, with operators such as Comcast adding support for Netflix in their set-top boxes. Parks Associates’ senior director, Brett Sappington, said:
“The number of ‘cord never’ households (which have never had a pay TV service) is increasing slowly but those who have sampled pay TV are testing new alternatives. The percentage of those open to cancelling pay TV or minimising their monthly spend on pay TV is also up.
This ongoing shift is affecting all aspects of service design, promotion, packaging, and pricing. As a result, operators are having to reassess their technology and content investments as well as their partnerships and go-to-market strategy”.
Other highlights from the new study include:
- Pay TV subscription rates dropped from 86% in 2015 to 77% in late 2017.
- 84% of pay TV subscribers have service from a traditional cable, satellite, or telco provider.
- Nearly 18% of pay TV households have a subscription package from an online video service, e.g. Sling or a traditional provider now offering an online video bundle.
