Sports are primary reason to have pay TV for 27% of U.S. subscribers

Parks Associates: 27% of Pay-TV Subscribers Say Sports is the Primary Reason They Subscribe to Pay TV

DALLAS — New research from Parks Associates shows that 27% of U.S. pay-TV households agree that sports programming is the primary reason they subscribe to their pay-TV service.

“While broadcast and pay TV remain key sources for live sports, OTT streaming options have become an important part of the live sports landscape,” said Brett Sappington, Senior Director of Research, Parks Associates. “Increasingly, leagues and networks are offering direct-to-consumer options. These services offer access to content that would otherwise not be broadcast and subscription options to those not subscribing to pay TV. In the past several weeks, both CBS and ESPN have launched their own streaming services for sports content. These services will both compete with and complement major services such as WWE Network and MLB.TV. Over time, pay-TV providers will likely partner with these types of services in order to round out their existing channel packages.”

Additional Parks Associates video research data:

• 52% of U.S. broadband households have a subscription to both pay-TV and one or more OTT video services

• 10% of U.S. broadband households have switched, downgraded, or cancelled their pay-TV service in the past 12 months

• U.S. broadband households spend $23 on average for video entertainment per month