Fresh from Apple deciding rental is the way to go for their TV service, research group ABI has also concluded this is what will drive the video on demand (VOD) market, claiming half of what is expected to be 2.4 billion download in 2012 will be offered as rentals. There will be an estimated 215 million downloads this year.
ABI says a barrier to industry growth are the restrictive usage policies the studios are requiring of distributors, like having to use the download within 24 hours. ABI research director Michael Wolf predicted studios eventually will offer greater flexibility, in particular as DVD and other physical media continue to mature and new consumer Internet-to-TV hardware expands their audience of consumers.
In a separate report, ABI argues vertically integrated solutions, such as Apple TV, Netflix and TiVO, will drive the market, rather than general providers who utilize public and home networks to deliver their service. Tell that to You Tube, but the point ABI makes is, that for consumers, it is services that offer an end-to-end solution that will be attractive to users.
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