Parks Associates

DALLAS, TX--(Marketwired - Mar 29, 2016) - Parks Associates today announced new international data from the company's OTT Video Market Tracker service showing OTT video usage in Western Europe is continuing to expand, with 55% of U.K. broadband households and 51% in France watching TV programming and movies online, compared to 70% in the U.S. However, the number of paid subscriptions in Europe is significantly lower, where 30% of broadband households in the U.K. and 17% in France subscribe to OTT video, compared to 64% of U.S. broadband households.

"OTT is definitely gaining traction across Europe. We are seeing new OTT video services spring up but not as many as in North America," said Brett Sappington , Director of Research, Parks Associates. "In many parts of Europe, pay-TV penetration is lower than the U.S., and European consumers have been reluctant to pay for video in the past due to so many 'free' options such as the BBC iPlayer. But, as more pay options enter the market, with content unavailable anywhere else, they are slowly changing the culture of video viewing in Europe."

Fueled by interest in the iPlayer and popular OTT video services from Netflix, Sky, and Amazon, the U.K. remains one of the top markets in Europe for OTT video services. New services are emerging in France, including a new transactional video service from well-known retailer FNAC, but Netflix has struggled in the French market, despite partnerships with many of France's leading pay-TV providers.

"In the U.S. and Canada, the quickly increasing volume of new options is driving high numbers of online viewing of TV and movies," Sappington said. "Each service is bringing new experiences for consumers, and many are providing new content that is unavailable elsewhere."

AT&T, Sony, and HTC have been the most recent to announce new OTT video services in the U.S. market, and Spotify recently added video to its freemium OTT music service. PlayStation Vue also recently became available nationwide across the U.S.

"Consumers are trying and subscribing to more services," Sappington said. "We saw a big increase in the number of households subscribing to multiple OTT video services in the U.S. market at the end of 2015."

The OTT Video Market Tracker is an annual service with monthly and quarterly updates that provides comprehensive industry monitoring and insights into new trends and services, including discovery and analysis on new OTT video service players. It tracks content and subscriber counts for well over 100 OTT video services in North America and dozens across European markets.

For more information about the OTT Video Market Tracker and related research, contact sales@parksassociates.com . To schedule an interview with an analyst or to request specific data, please contact Holly Sprague at hsprague@gmail.com .

About Parks Associates
Parks Associates is an internationally recognized market research and consulting company specializing in emerging consumer technology products and services. Founded in 1986, Parks Associates creates research capital for companies ranging from Fortune 500 to small start-ups through market reports, primary studies, consumer research, custom research, workshops, executive conferences, and annual service subscriptions.

The company's expertise includes digital media and platforms, entertainment and gaming, home networks, Internet and television services, digital health, mobile applications and services, support services, consumer apps, advanced advertising, consumer electronics, energy management, and home control systems and security.

Each year, Parks Associates hosts industry webcasts, the CONNECTIONS™ Conference Series, Connected Health Summit: Engaging Consumers, and Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer. http://www.parksassociates.com

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