Analysis

The new State of Online Video report from Limelight Networks reveals that pricing has become less of a factor for consumers when making the decision to cut the cord, while the availability of their preferred content has become more important. Seven out of ten consumers subscribe to at least one streaming video service, the survey says.

Retail sales of licensed products hit $251.7 billion worldwide in 2015, representing a 4.2-percent increase on the previous year, with entertainment/character licensing remaining as the largest category. Those numbers were released as part of the 2016 International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association’s (LIMA) Annual Global Licensing Industry Survey conducted by Brandar Consulting.

The economic problems plaguing a number of Latin American markets have led Zenith to lower its forecast for global ad expenditure, which it now projects will rise by 4.1 percent this year as compared with the 4.6 percent gain predicted in March. Zenith said the downward revision was a result of recession and currency devaluation in LatAm territories, including Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador and Venezuela, which account for more than half of the region's ad spend.

According to a new global study, virtual reality will play a decisive role in the future of OTT video, with a majority of OTT companies agreeing that the technology is here to stay. Level 3 Communications commissioned the study, titled The OTT-Video Services Market: Today's Trends and What Is Next for 4K, HDR, HFR and VR and conducted by Unisphere Research in partnership with Streaming Media.

Zenith’s Media Consumption Forecasts report finds that mobile internet consumption is now growing at the expense of all other media, including TV, which still dominates despite recent declines. The amount of time people around the world devote to using mobile internet is forecast to increase by 27.7 percent this year, driving a 1.4-percent increase in overall media consumption.

Key findings in PwC’s latest five-year outlook on entertainment and media revenues, which points to “unprecedented challenges” for companies in this changing landscape, include internet advertising overtaking broadcast in the U.S. for the first time next year and China becoming the world’s box-office leader.

Revenues from OTT TV and video in Canada and the U.S. are forecast to reach $24.39 billion in 2021, according to Digital TV Research. This is up from the $2.67 billion in 2010 and $15.39 billion in 2015.

Following its latest study, GfK suggests that commercial-free streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon may need to consider accepting advertising as an alternative to raising their subscription fees in order to achieve revenue and profit growth.

Thanks to the popularity of Apple TV devices, Apple has moved into the number three spot based on revenue in the overall global set-top box market, according to IHS. The company moved up to number three in 2015 from ninth place in 2014.

Global digital penetration reached 74.6 percent at the end of 2015, according to the latest edition of the Digital TV World Databook. About 584 million digital TV homes were added in 138 countries between 2010 and 2015. This doubled the digital TV household total to 1.17 billion.