Millions of U.S. households are cutting the cord and switching to over-the-top (OTT) devices, but the number is still less than one-sixth of all households with cable and satellite subscriptions, according to a new report from the Video Advertising Bureau.
The VAB report, which looks at OTT usage, found that the number of households using only over-the-top streaming services and devices has tripled since 2013, rising to 14.1 million homes (11 percent of all U.S. TV households). That’s still fewer than the 12 percent of U.S. households that receive broadcast network signals via antennae.
The OTT-only number represents less than one-sixth of the 90.3 million U.S. households (74 percent overall) that have a cable, telco or satellite subscription. And 70 percent of households with OTT capabilities also have a cable subscription, indicating that OTT offerings are still largely supplemental for most U.S. viewers.
In its report, the VAB defines OTT as premium long-form video content streamed over the internet through an app or device onto a TV, computer, tablet or smartphone without requiring a wired cable, telco or satellite TV subscription.
While the OTT-only percentage remains small, the use of OTT devices and access are most definitely on the rise. Nearly one-third of all OTT subscribers now have three or more ways of accessing their OTT content (for example, via a smartphone, tablet or connected TV device), which has increased eight times since just two years ago.
Currently, there are 820 million connected video devices in the U.S.: 30 percent of those are smartphones, 20 percent are smart TVs and 15 percent are computers or home media servers. The VAB said that 71 percent of internet users use an OTT service at least once a month.
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http://www.adweek.com/tv-video/the-number-of-ott-only-u-s-homes-has-tripled-over-the-last-5-years/
