Report: Broadband-Enabled TV Homes to Top 360 Million by 2014

DALLAS: The number of households worldwide that will be able to watch broadband content on their TVs is expected to reach more than 360 million by 2014, according to new research from The Diffusion Group (TDG).

According to TDG’s latest digital media analysis, Broadband-Enabled TV: Evolution of OTT Hardware Platforms, the number of broadband-enabled TV households with the basic infrastructure to enjoy Over-the-Top (OTT) video services will grow from 130 million in 2009 to more than 360 million in 2014. The number of active OTT households—those that put this infrastructure to use—will grow from 40 million in 2009 to 170 million in 2014.

"A key reason why many OTT efforts have failed (and will continue to do so) is their dependence on proprietary single-function hardware paid for by consumers," noted Colin Dixon, the managing partner at TDG. "In order to grow a profitable base of service users, OTT operators must either give the hardware away for little to nothing—something upstarts cannot afford to do—or leverage other Internet-enabled platforms as a conduit to the living room. The latter approach is preferable, yet its success hinges on the rate at which these Internet-enabled platforms diffuse—a factor over which OTT providers have little control."