Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

Hulu to launch non-stop customer service as it readies live TV

The increased spending on customer service comes as Hulu is about to go head-to-head with internet channels that offer live TV from AT&T's DirecTVNow and Dish Network Corp's Sling TV.

The services have had hiccups - like shows freezing, viewers getting error messages and system crashes. Their owners also have large customer service staffs already handling calls from their traditional pay TV customers, said Brett Sappington, senior director of research at Parks Associates.

The stakes are high for Hulu, which has a customer defection rate of 50 percent, according to Parks Associates, a Dallas-based market research firm.

"Live TV is a challenge particularly for events like the Super Bowl and the Oscars which draw millions of subscribers all at the same time," Sappington said. "You are never sure what's going to break until you have a few million people watching at the same time."

From the article "Hulu to launch non-stop customer service as it readies live TV".

Previously In The News

Streamer Acorn TV is an Anglophile favorite, but can it help AMC compete with Netflix?

“They are trying to walk a tightrope,” said Steve Nason, director of research for Parks Associates, a consulting company that tracks consumer technology services. “They don’t want to sabotage the trad...

Why Netflix and other streamers are cracking down on password sharing

The losses are steep. Account sharing and piracy cost streamers and pay TV providers $9.1 billion in lost revenue in 2019. That’s expected to grow to $12.5 billion in lost revenue by 2024, according t...

Smart home companies add brand equity and new tech in Q1 via acquisitions

New Parks Associates research in the firm's Smart Home Tracker finds smart home mainstays are strengthening their offerings by acquiring smaller companies with deep expertise. Parks Associates' Sma...

CES: 50% of flat-panel shoppers seeking 4K capability

Parks Associates announced new European research today at CES 2016 showing that over 50% of households in the UK, France, Germany and Spain planning to buy a flat-panel TV in the next 12 months consid...