New data from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) reveals that 33% of U.K. broadband households subscribed to an OTT [over-the-top] video service as of the third quarter of 2015. The same study shows that only 15% of U.K. households with pay TV subscribe to premium movie channels.
“Overall OTT video usage in the U.K. favors broadcasters,” said Brett Sappington, Director, Research, Parks Associates. “The most popular OTT video sources in the U.K. include BBC’s iPlayer, ITV Player, 4oD (now All4), and Demand5 – all catch-up or on-demand offerings from broadcasters. New OTT video market entrants, especially those with paid services, will have to provide unique value in order to make substantial gains. However, the demand for interesting content is strong enough that there are market opportunities for new OTT video players. Nearly 20% of U.K. broadband households have recently used a Netflix service, despite the free OTT catch-up options.”
The research group’s study surveyed broadband households in the U.K., Germany, Spain, and France to identify pay-TV and OTT video adoption and usage trends. Sky and Virgin Media (Liberty Global) control almost 80% of pay-TV households in the U.K., and Talk Talk now rivals BT in pay-TV services with 8% of the U.K. market.
The project also revealed U.K. households with pay-TV services are far more likely to have premium sports channels than pay-TV households in other European markets. Currently 32% of U.K. households with pay TV subscribe to a premium sports package. Additional research from Parks Associates shows that:
° 54% of pay-TV subscribers in the U.K. subscribe to Sky’s pay-TV service.
° 20% of French pay-TV subscribers are aware of TV Everywhere services from their provider.
° 16% of Spain’s pay-TV market has subscribed for the first time within the past year.