Audio Video News

New research from Dallas-based Parks Associates reveals that the number of U.S. pay-TV households that subscribe to online video services through their pay-TV provider has more than doubled over the past year, going from 10 percent to 21 percent.

The firm attributes the jump to the increasing number of partnerships between pay-TV and streaming TV providers, with operators such as Comcast adding support for Netflix in set-top boxes, for example. About 18 percent of pay-TV households now have a subscription package from an online video service such as Sling or a traditional provider offering a streaming bundle, Parks said.

The findings were culled from the “360 View: Access and Entertainment in U.S. Broadband Households” study, which also found that the number of “cord never” households — households that have never subscribed to a pay-TV service — is increasing slowly and that “those who have sampled pay TV are testing new alternatives,” according to Brett Sappington, senior director at Parks Associates.

“The percentage of those open to cancelling pay TV or minimizing their monthly spend on pay TV is also up,” Sappington added. “This ongoing shift is affecting all aspects of service design, promotion, packaging, and pricing. As a result, operators are having to reassess their technology and content investments as well as their partnerships and go-to-market strategy.”

The study also revealed that pay-TV subscription rates are down 9 percent over the past three years — dropping from 86 percent in 2015 to 77 percent today — and that 84 percent of pay-TV subscribers get service from a traditional cable, satellite, or telco provider.