The way people consume and enjoy video is changing rapidly. It’s no surprise that the emergence of over-the-top (OTT) video is the leading factor in this change — as an avalanche of consumers move away from traditional models to exercise more control over what they subscribe to and what they are willing to paying for.
Groups like Comscore do a great job measuring these changes and frequently report on America's viewing behavior.
We’ve compiled the top findings for you from the recent “ State of OTT. ” This report provides an in-depth look at today’s (OTT) content consumption and device usage.
Here’s what you need to know:
More than half of all U.S. households (63.5 percent) with WiFi now use OTT. That is increasing at a rate of 17 percent year-over-year.
These households represent 59.5 million homes.
The vast majority of this content is viewed via streaming, although the use of OTT devices is slowly growing.
Cable and satellite subscribers who do not yet stream OTT pose a major growth opportunity.
Homes that stream are most often young and homes with children.
Outside of the Big Four services (Netflix, Hulu, YouTube and Amazon) the most popular categories are Premium Channels, Music Streaming, and Broadcast Networks.
The use of pure-play virtual MVPD services on OTT is on the rise.
What does all of this mean for content providers?
The short answer is: this is only the beginning .
If growth of OTT continues at the rate as it has over the last few years, the opportunity is huge. According to the report there are still 28 million US households with WiFi that do not stream OTT.
Also, with many OTT users still subscribed to cable services, more and more viewers will make the transition to streaming exclusively (“cord-cutters” or “cord-nevers”) as content providers for every niche continue to pop up. The need for traditional viewing screens and models is decreasing, and the convenience and benefits of OTT make it a runaway train.
What does this tell us about OTT audiences?
It’s no surprise that OTT streaming households are more likely to be young or have a young head-of-household, but it turns out having children in the household makes viewers more likely to stream and more likely to engage.
Also, because OTT viewing habits tend to be cheaper than cable and satellite services, lower-income households are twice as likely to be cordless.
This also illustrates the growing opportunity to monetize video content alongside the biggest players in the industry. For those of us in the video content market that reach a more targeted audience, an equal playing field is setting up that will one day threaten the likes of Netflix -- just as Netflix disrupted and rocked the world for cable companies.
The rise of OTT proves people will pay for the exact content they want and that the trend opens new and exciting opportunities of all types of video content providers.
What’s next?
There really is a piece of the OTT pie for all kinds of content providers — traditional or new, and for cable and satellite companies the opportunity is critical to survival.
Want to learn more about growing your audience through OTT? Contact us to learn how to super-charge your streaming services with a complete video infrastructure for product teams that are building awesome video products and services. Click here to check out Zype’s platform or get in touch to see a live demo.
We look forward to hearing from you!
