OTT subscriber churn rate in the U.S. at 44% in 2021

Parks Associates: OTT Subscriber Churn Rate in the US is 44% as of 2021

DALLAS — A new whitepaper from Parks Associates, AI-Enabled Data: Key to Video Service Optimization, reveals the OTT subscriber churn rate in the US in 2021 is 44% and, as of Q3 2021, nearly 50% of US broadband households have four or more OTT video service subscriptions. The whitepaper, developed in partnership with Symphony MediaAI, examines the drivers and use cases for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML)-enabled data analysis to address consumer trends in the video services market.

“Video services are seeking ways to optimize the performance of their businesses in as many dimensions as possible,” said Paul Erickson, Senior Analyst, Parks Associates. “Data, insights, and actions enabled by the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can maximize their abilities to compete and thrive in the current high-pressure streaming video landscape.”

“Content owners and streaming providers are operating in a highly competitive environment, driven by the multitude of choices available to today’s consumer,” said Mark Moeder, CEO of Symphony MediaAI. “AI and ML-enabled data analysis confer a crucial competitive advantage: the ability to predict, and adapt, to both overarching trends and individual consumer behavior.”

The whitepaper reports that 37% of US broadband households that subscribed to a new OTT service in the last year are planning to terminate that subscription because of a lack of new content. Additionally, 26% of those cancelling an OTT video service report doing so because they had finished watching the shows they liked, highlighting the importance of connecting subscribers to relevant content to increase retention. AI and ML solutions can identify content that would keep subscribers engaged and stave off churn and can even identify behaviors that are predictive of future churn.

“The integration of AI-enhanced data is becoming a necessity to be able to compete in a crowded, fiercely competitive video service environment, with numerous competitors vying to capture and retain an increasingly elusive streaming video consumer,” Erickson said.