The Wrap

Netflix is by far the biggest online streaming video service. Last week, researcher Parks Associates estimated that about half of all U.S. households with a broadband Internet connection subscribed to Netflix at the end of 2015, while only about one-quarter report having a subscription to Amazon so that they can stream video. (Amazon itself doesn’t disclose the number of people who subscribe to Prime or who use Prime Video regularly.)

From the article "Amazon Takes On Netfli ...read more

Netflix beats all its streaming-video rivals both on number of members and success rate of keeping them signed up, a new study said Thursday.

But the rest of the over-the-top market doesn’t need to fear: More people in the U.S. are joining up to these services overall, which include the likes Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and HBO Now. High-speed-Internet households that subscribe to a streaming video service rose to 64 percent from 59 percent, according to a study from researc ...read more

“We’re still in the world of automated systems, not automated driving,” said Jennifer Kent, connected car analyst for Parks Associates.

She estimated such automated systems will become more commonplace over the next three to five years. The next five to 10 years will see greater autonomous driving. It requires a driver present in the front seat still in command of the wheel and brakes to take control in emergent situations at the computers’ prompting.

From the article "H ...read more

Global licensing is always expensive, according to Glenn Hower, a research analyst at Parks Associates. But Netflix’s approach runs against the norms of global rights, which break everything up regionally, he said. Attempts to bust up the institutions of licensing probably comes at a premium, Hower said.

The consumer behaviors in many of 2016’s new markets differ from the places where Netflix is strongest now.

From the article "Netflix Has $5 Billion to Burn on Content i ...read more

VR content production will be significantly different than for traditional films or TV programs, according to Barbara Kraus, Parks Associates director of research. Viewers will not have a common central focus, and so directors and writers must design content that can be experienced in a very different way than current movies and TV programs.

From the article "Virtual Reality’s Future Kings: Major Studios or Indie Upstarts?" by Joan E. Solsman.