Over half of U.S. SVOD households pay for multiple OTT video services

Thursday, November 30th, 2017
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More than one-half of OTT-subscribing households pay for multiple OTT video services

  • IoT research firm reveals consumers who pay for subscription OTT services are more likely than non-subscribers to watch free video services

Parks Associates today released new OTT research showing that more than 50% of U.S. OTT subscription households subscribe to multiple OTT video services. Of these multi-OTT households, 81% use Netflix plus some other service or combination of services, typically Amazon or Hulu.

“Not only are more households subscribing to OTT video services than ever before, but also the average number of subscriptions per household is increasing as well. The OTT video pie getting bigger, and it is getting deeper as well,” said Brett Sappington, Senior Director of Research, Parks Associates. “What we are seeing is consumers adding to the number of sources that they use to access interesting content. This growth is critical. It means that video services do not necessarily have to displace a Netflix or other large service in order to gain market share. Services can potentially find success as a complementary offering as well.”

Parks Associates’ OTT Video Market Tracker reports consumers who pay for subscription OTT services are also more likely than non-subscribers to watch free online video services. Furthermore, the more OTT video subscriptions a consumer has, the more likely they are to use a free or freemium video service.

“A common assumption is that consumers who pay for multiple subscription OTT video services would not need to, or have time to, use free OTT video service options. Yet, we find the opposite to be the case. Only 30% of households subscribing to one subscription service use at least one free, ad-supported online video service,” Sappington said. “That number jumps to 47% of households subscribing to three subscription services and 63% if a household subscribes to five or more services.”

Parks Associates’ OTT Video Market Tracker has research services for North America and Europe to track the content offerings, business strategies, and subscription numbers for OTT services in these regions. Additional data from these services include:

  • With the exception of Netflix and Amazon Prime, OTT services are experiencing churn rates exceeding 50% of their subscriber base.
  • 69% of U.S. broadband households subscribe to at least one OTT video service (3Q 2017).
  • More than 50% of U.S. broadband households that use OTT services subscribe to multiple OTT video services, compared to 20% in 2014.