What They Say
Parks Associates said that in Q3 2021, 27% of US broadband subscribers reported the Samsung Tizen Smart TV is their primary device for consuming video content.
Eric Sorensen, Senior Contributing Analyst, said
“The smart TV will cement its status as the default streaming platform in the households. We will see many more content partnerships and service acquisitions among providers and manufacturers. Content creators will leverage their ability to reach audiences directly, while service and content providers will adapt their business models to anticipate higher levels of churn than in previous years.”
The firm said that the average churn rate for SVODs increased to 45% in 2021, a 5.5% jump from 2020. Consumers hold on to the services they use the most and jump among the others, paying for a program or season and then cancelling when they are finished. The number of subscriptions may rise and fall over time, indicating that churn rates will continue to be elevated.
The firm recently released its annual Top 10 US Subscription OTT Video Services, with Disney+ replacing Hulu in the top three:
- Netflix
- Prime Video
- Disney+
- Hulu
- HBO Max
- ESPN+
- Paramount+
- Apple TV+
- Starz
- Showtime
What We Think
It has taken years for Smart TV to reach this tipping point, but there is no going back. Could there be a cloud on the horizon for streaming? In December, I nearly ran an article about a plea from 13 telco CEOs in Europe (big ones, including Deutsche Telekom, BT, KPN and Vodafone had written an open letter to governments complaining that the big Tech companies with streaming businesses are making a lot of business growth on the back of investments that they have had to make. The firms estimate that to continue broadband development, an investment of €300 billion will be needed. The article where I found this points out that SK Telecom had sued Netflix over the amount of traffic generated by ‘Squid Game’. It estimated the network usage fee in 2020 should be €19.8 million. (BR)
