Parks Associates research finds that the percentage of households with multiple OTT subscriptions has increased by 130% since 2014.
In 2019, forty-six percent of US broadband households subscribe to two or more OTT services. Partnering, Aggregation, and Bundling in Video Services reports only 33% subscribed to multiple services in early 2017 and 20% in 2014.
“The number of OTT services available in the US increased by 140% in five years, giving consumers an unprecedented number of options to meet their video needs,” said Steve Nason, Senior Analyst, Parks Associates.
“Most OTT households are anchored by one of the three major OTT services—Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime Video—but consumers are finding they can’t fulfill all their interests through a single service. Many small and medium-sized services are building their brand and subscriber base by filling in these gaps in content.”
Several trends in the video services industry are shaping partnerships, including intense competition, the move of content providers to launch direct-to-consumer offerings, the lack of differentiation among OTT services, and the existing infrastructure and consumer relationships among larger players.
While overall adoption and awareness of OTT video services as a category are high, awareness of any specific individual service is low, which will make it difficult for smaller services to match the scale, revenues, and marketing efforts of larger players. Parks Associates research shows nearly three in 10 OTT services in the US are on Amazon’s Prime Video Channels aggregation platform, more than four times the rate from two years ago.
“Netflix can afford to license high-value content like Seinfeld to supplement its original content, and Apple can buy commercial space during the Emmys and NFL games to promote its upcoming Apple TV+ service and its array of content and stars,” Nason said.
“By contrast, smaller OTT services are having to harness the power of a partnership with an aggregator, bundling or content partner, or marketing and promotion partner to boost awareness of their brand and offerings.”
Additional research finds tha
– Fifty-three percent of US broadband households subscribe to at least one OTT service and a pay-TV service.
– Nearly three-quarters subscribe to an OTT video service, up from fifty-two percent in 2014.
– Among the OTT video services available in the US, approximately 90 have fewer than 50,000 subscribers and 72 have fewer than 20,000.