Report Sees Surge in Multiple Subscription OTT Homes

Almost half of all U.S. broadband homes subscribe to two or more OTT services, according to new data from Parks Associates.

The report, Partnering, Aggregation, and Bundling in Video Services, found that as of this year, 46 percent of U.S. broadband homes had two or more OTT subscriptions, up from 33 percent in 2017 and 20 percent in 2014.

The research also found that 53 percent of U.S. broadband homes subscribe to at least one OTT service and a pay-TV service and nearly 75 percent have an OTT subscription

“The number of OTT services available in the U.S. increased by 140 percent in five years, giving consumers an unprecedented number of options to meet their video needs,” said Steve Nason, senior analyst at 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.”

The market is highly fragmented outside of the three big players (Netflix, Hulu and Amazon), with 90 platforms having less than 50,000 subs and 72 having less than 20,000.

Nason added, “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. 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.”