Report: Catch-Up Services to Drive Gains at Pay-TV Platforms

DALLAS: The number of people subscribing to TV services worldwide will top 1.4 billion by 2013, Parks Associates forecasts, with prime-time catch-up services seen as key for platforms in gaining and retaining customers.

Broadband households in Europe and the U.S. consistently rank prime-time anytime VOD services as the most valuable service out of all advanced TV offerings, according to Parks Associates’ Television Services: The Global Outlook report. "Online video is not robbing prime time of its audience but supplementing it," said Jayant Dasari, research analyst at Parks Associates. "The majority of U.S. broadband households use online video to catch up on their TV viewing, and 36 percent of those who pay for Internet video content have increased consumption of prime-time television. Moving video from the PC to the TV is a natural progression, one that aligns with consumers’ current behavior."