Subscriber numbers for OTT TV services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime are likely to increase globally from 92.1 million in 2014 to 332.2 million by 2019, according to the new data produced by Juniper Research.
While North America will remain the leading market in terms of subscriber numbers, it will be closely followed by the Far East.
In its report Mobile & Online TV & Video: OTT, IPTV and Connected Markets 2015-2019, Juniper Research says that consumers will favour connected TVs as their primary screen, especially when one considers the trend for watching long-form video on OTT subscription services.
Furthermore, the long lifecycle of TV’s, previously ‘dumb’ TVs will see an upsurge in becoming ‘connected’ due to the cost-effectiveness of devices such as Chromecast, and Amazon’s Fire TV Stick, as well as the high uptake of games consoles and STBs which provide preloaded services.
This is in contrast to smart TVs, which currently offer poor operating systems and user interfaces.
Other key findings are that ad spend on VOD will grow almost fourfold by 2019, by when the market will be dominated by China and the Far East.
IPTV numbers are meanwhile forecast to grow by over 70% between 2014 and 2019.
