FierceCable

In FierceCable's latest special report, we look at the reasons why the video entertainment business should take VR seriously and invest in it. "I'm a converted skeptic -- there's just too many big companies involved in it now spending real money for it to be hype," said Brett Sappington, senior analyst for Parks Associates.

From the article "Would Facebook Spend $2 Billion On Hype? Why Pay-TV Should Pay Attention To VR" by Daniel Frankel.

Roku leads devices ranging from Apple TV to Google Chromecast to Amazon Fire TV in infiltration into U.S. living rooms. According to Parks Associates, Roku accounted for 34 percent of OTT devices sold in the U.S. last year, compared to 23 percent for second-place finisher Chromecast. 

From the article "Charter launches TVE app for Roku" by Daniel Frankel.

Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street, announced a programming deal that will send Sesame Street from its longtime publicly-subsidized home on PBS to the corporate Time Warner-owned home of Westeros on HBO. According to a press release from Sesame Workshop, the deal includes:

• a five-year order of 35 episodes per season (nearly twice its current 18 episodes per season);
• 150 library episodes;
• a muppet-based spinoff series;
• an ad ...read more

Stream is being most closely compared to Dish Network's (NASDAQ: DISH) Sling TV, which has reportedly gathered around 250,000 subscribers since debuting in early February. The $20-a-month Sling TV features top cable channels such as ESPN, TNT and AMC, but no broadcast networks. It streams through any broadband connection, and it's compatible with living-room OTT devices such as Roku, Apple TV and Xbox One, in addition to iOS and Android mobile platforms.

"This service is par ...read more

Putting a size on the security exposure for authenticated streaming video services, Parks Associates said that 6 percent of U.S. broadband homes use a video service that belongs to someone living outside the home.

The cost of this digital piracy amounts to $500 million a year, the research company claims in its latest report, The Cost of Piracy.

Password stealing/sharing is particularly prevalent among adults 18-24, the report says, with 20 percent of that young-adult gr ...read more

Parks Associates published new research suggesting that 51 percent of U.S. pay-TV consumers are "very interested" in unlimited, cloud-based DVR storage.

The data is a relevant indicator for pay-TV operators, most of which are contemplating movement into the cloud DVR market to respond to consumer demand for time-shifted viewing options.

According to Parks, 50 percent of U.S. broadband homes have a DVR, either supplied to them as part of a pay-TV subscription or purchased ...read more

Subscription video on demand services like Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) and Hulu have seen their subscriber bases grow rather explosively, and ease-of-use for these platforms has always been given some of the credit. But the question has always lingered: How much digital piracy has resulted from the ease with which users can freely share usernames and passwords?

Parks Associates believes it has an answer. It says fully 57 percent of broadband homes in the U.S. have an SVOD subscri ...read more

DirecTV's 4K launch comes as research company Parks Associates releases new data on the ultra-high-definition format.

According to Parks:

> More than 46 million homes worldwide will subscribe to a 4K pay-TV service by 2018.

> 4K TVs will deploy more quickly than HDTV, which took 15 years to penetrate into 82 percent of broadband households.

> 4K TVs will reach mass-market pricing within three years.

> 4K TVs will be deployed in 80 percent of households in 10- ...read more