Video subscribers’ appetite for OTT video continues to climb, with more households purchasing more than one service.
New research from Parks Associates revealed that over 50% of U.S. OTT subscription households subscribe to multiple OTT video services, up from only 20% in 2014.
As of the third quarter of 2017, 69% of U.S. broadband households subscribe to at least one OTT video service. Not surprisingly, out of these multi-OTT households, 81% use Netflix plus some other service or combination of services, including Amazon or Hulu.
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Brett Sappington, senior director of research for Parks Associates, said in a release that the OTT viewing market is seeing two main subscriber growth trends: More households are subscribing to OTT video services, and the average number of subscriptions per household is increasing.
“What we are seeing is consumers adding to the number of sources that they use to access interesting content,” Sappington said. “This growth is critical. It means that video services do not necessarily have to displace a Netflix or other large service in order to gain market share.”
Interestingly, the research firm also found that consumers who pay for subscription OTT services are more likely than nonsubscribers to watch free video services.
“Only 30% of households subscribing to one subscription service use at least one free, ad-supported online video service,” Sappington said. “That number jumps to 47% of households subscribing to three subscription services and 63% if a household subscribes to five or more services.”