LAS VEGAS--Statistics show that when it comes to broadband usage, 63.4 percent of usage is from people watching video. But according to an Arris (Nasdaq: ARRS) executive, much of the video being watched is from power users. "Lots of video is being watched but not a lot of people are doing it," said Brook Longdon, senior director of solutions marketing at Arris.
Speaking at an OTT Video panel at the National Association of Broadcasters conference here, Longdon said only about 10 percent of people are generating about 70 percent of the video viewing. What is driving much of the OTT usage, according to Longdon, is the business model. "Netflix [Nasdaq: NFLX] is cheap," he said. "And you can get it anywhere."
Nevertheless, the current OTT video model is very fragmented and suffers from issues such as piracy. According to Steve Oetegenn, chief sales, marketing officer at Verimatrix, in a recent study the company found that 81 percent of 15- to 25-year-olds whom it queried said they would likely view pirated video in the next six months.
But one thing online video providers have that cable companies lack is a better user experience and content discovery process. Oetegenn said until cable operators have a better search function on their VOD offerings and a more integrated solution, there is opportunity for online video firms such as Netflix.
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