Parks Associates senior analyst shares firm’s groundbreaking OTT video research at NAB 2017

Nearly one-third of OTT free trials convert to a paid subscription, according to new connected entertainment research from Parks Associates. The research firm, which produces the industry-leading resource OTT Video Market Tracker, announced today that Senior Analyst Glenn Hower will be speaking on the session "OTT Video Services: Fighting to Capture and Retain Users" at NAB Show Las Vegas on Monday, April 24, at 12:10 p.m.

Hower will discuss the firm’s latest consumer and OTT research, including new findings on the use of free trials among OTT services. Services such as Hulu and Netflix often offer a period of free service to new subscribers, with the aim to convert as many new subscribers into paying customers.

“Free OTT trials are effective in converting a sizeable portion of trial users into subscribers,” Hower said. “There is a potential for free trial abuse, but only roughly 1% of consumers are ‘serial trialers’ who abuse free trials to avoid paying for services. Most consumers use trials for their intended purpose of trying out a service before deciding whether or not to continue as a paid subscriber.”

More than one-fourth of U.S. broadband households trialed at least one OTT service in the previous six months. Of these users, 47% subscribed to at least one trial service after the free period expired.

“While spending on transactional services has declined, average monthly spending on subscription OTT video has increased, reaching $7.95 per U.S. broadband household in 2016. Most households build their services around at least one of the top three services, Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu, which also show among the most effective trial conversion rates,” Hower said. “Since there isn’t much money left for niche OTT services, these services should not expect to expand beyond their particular audience niche and may also have to implement tiered services or hybrid business models to diversify their subscriber bases and generate incremental revenue wherever possible.”

Parks Associates is supporting NAB Show Las Vegas, April 22-27. Hower’s session "OTT Video Services: Fighting to Capture and Retain Users" will explore the trends and dynamics of today's OTT video service market and reveal new data on adoption, churn, and which companies are finding success. Hower will also participate in a panel debate on Wednesday, April 26 at 2:30 p.m.

The event, held by the National Association of Broadcasters, is where global visionaries from the entire digital ecosystem convene. The event includes broadcast, digital media, film, entertainment, telecom, mobile, advertising, retail, security, sports, live events, online video, IT, virtual and augmented reality, and more. To register for the event, go to http://bit.ly/NABLasVegasReg.

The OTT Video Market Tracker includes an exhaustive analysis of market trends and profiles of the nearly 100 over-the-top video service providers in the U.S. and Canada, including Netflix, HBO, YouTube, and Amazon, with updated deliverables throughout the year.

360 View: Digital Media & Connected Consumers analyzes trends in music and video consumption by platform, source, and content expenditure. It segments consumers based on their consumption habits and identifies how these habits have been changing over the last four years and how the relative size of each segment is changing. The research also explores OTT service subscriptions as well as current online gaming consumption figures.

Parks Associates and other industry leaders will address the evolving OTT landscape at the 21st-annual CONNECTIONS™: The Premier Connected Home Conference, May 23-25 in San Francisco, California.

For more information on Parks Associates research or events, visit www.parksassociates.com, or contact sales@parksassociates.com, 972-490-1113. To schedule an interview with an analyst or to request specific data, contact Holly Sprague at hsprague@gmail.com, 720.987.6614.

About Parks Associates

Parks Associates, a woman-founded and certified business, is an internationally recognized market research and consulting company specializing in emerging consumer technology products and services. Founded in 1986, Parks Associates provides business intelligence and research services through its proprietary methodologies developed over decades, including quarterly surveys of 10,000 internet households.

The company's expertise crosses many industries: home security and smart home, streaming video, broadband and pay-TV services, digital media and platforms, gaming, Wi-Fi and home networks, connected health, support, consumer electronics, home control systems, energy management, and tech solutions for the multi-dwelling (MDU), small-to-medium business (SMB), and commercial building markets.

Each year, Parks Associates brings thousands of leaders together for its webinars and annual events. The firm hosts the annual executive research and strategy conferences CONNECTIONS™, Connected Health Summit, Smart Energy Summit, Smart Spaces, and Future of Video. https://www.parksassociates.com

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