U.K. Leads European OTT & Operator-Owned Multiscreen Services Market

LONDON: The U.K. is leading Europe in the adoption of both standalone OTT services as well as operator-owned multiscreen services, according to ABI Research.

OTT penetration in the U.K. is expected to exceed 75 percent by 2017. For the same period, operator-owned TV everywhere services are forecast to reach 52-percent penetration. More than 10 percent of the population in the U.K. already reports owning an average of four connected devices. More than 50 percent of broadband users are using pure OTT services, while pay-TV-operator-owned multiscreen services capture around 17.5 percent of pay-TV households. “While multiscreen services will not catch up with pure OTT services by 2017, the growth of multiscreen platforms will be faster than OTT services,” said Sam Rosen, practice director at ABI Research.

LOVEFiLM is the market leader for OTT services int he country, with 2.5 million subscribers. Netflix, however, is gaining steam, amassing an estimated 1 million subscribers within 8 months since its launch. “In pure OTT video services, content is the king, but in the short term operators that fail to differentiate purely on content may be able to focus on user experience to woo consumers,” commented Adarsh Krishnan, senior analyst at ABI Research. “Netflix’s content offerings in Europe lack depth; however device penetration and good user interface, makes an enticing offering for consumers.”