Sling TV, Showtime, CBS Gaining Ground in OTT Share

DALLAS: Parks Associates has updated its top 10 list for subscription OTT video services, based on the number of subscribers, with Netflix holding the lead spot while Sling TV, Showtime and CBS moved up or entered the list over the past year.

The firm’s list of top 10 OTT video services, ranked by number of paid subscribers, excluding transactional or ad-based services, is based on reported figures and estimates from Parks Associates’ OTT Video Market Tracker.

Netflix remains number one, followed by Amazon Video, Hulu, MLB.TV and WWE Network, consecutively. Rounding out the top 10, in respective order, are Sling TV, HBO Now, Crunchyroll, Showtime and CBS All Access.

“Importantly, all of these services have increased their subscriber base over the past year,” said Brett Sappington, senior director of research at Parks Associates. “The top five OTT services have stayed consistent, primarily through maintaining or growing the massive user and subscriber bases that they have built over the past several years. Showtime and CBS All Access have made a significant push into the OTT space. Their recognized brands and popular content, including Showtime’s Homeland and Ray Donovan, have provided them with a good basis for building an OTT service. Sling TV has continued to evolve its offering, testing new options and adding several new channels in order to grow its customer base.”

“In addition to MLB.TV’s organic growth, T-Mobile subscribers received a free subscription to MLB.TV at the beginning of the baseball season,” Sappington continued. “The WWE Network has continued its growth. In its 2Q 2016 financials, WWE reported that it had 1.5 million paying subscribers for its WWE Network, up from 1.2 million a year earlier.”

“We are clearly seeing OTT video moving to the television,” Sappington said. “OTT users watch OTT services on their TV screens between 17 to 20 days per month, much more than platforms such as a PC, smartphone or tablet.”