Variety

The Apple TV business generated more than $1 billion in revenue last year, according to CEO Tim Cook. That figure includes both hardware sales and content sold through the boxes.

At this point, there’s a big opportunity for Amazon to carve out share in the fast-growing market. About 14% of U.S. broadband households had a streaming-video media device like a Roku or Apple TV in 2013, according to Parks Associates. Overall, the research firm projects sales of connected-TV devic ...read more

Amazon wants to have the best-in-class Internet-video device in a crowded category. The real money, however, isn’t in consumer electronics but in providing a portal to the broader e-commerce catalog, said John Barrett, director of consumer analytics at Parks Associates.

“Amazon sells everything,” Barrett said. “The core features of Fire TV are the media features, but I’d be shocked if we didn’t see e-commerce make it to the device.”

Added Barrett, “Their interest at the ...read more

In 2014, U.S. cable, satellite and telco TV are expected to end the year with 103.1 million subscribers, up just a smidge from 102.5 million last year, according to new study by Parks Associates. That’s just a half a percentage point of growth, which means pay-TV has effectively plateaued. But the industry’s fear that the Internet could cut away a sizable portion of its customer base has — so far — not been realized.

Pay-TV providers could keep their customers happy and prev ...read more

Even before Microsoft launches its Xbox One on Friday, analysts already are calling Sony’s PlayStation 4 the clear victor in the new console war this year.

Many U.S. holiday shoppers have picked the video game console they plan to buy this season, with 36% of shoppers planning to purchase a Sony-branded device, followed by 27% for an Xbox product, according to Parks Associates.

Sony already has reported selling more than 1 million PS4 consoles in the first 24 hours after ...read more

Hulu had an added incentive to get on Chromecast as fast as possible: The device lets users “cast” web pages and video from a Chrome browser to a TV — including free Hulu.com videos, subverting the $8-per-month Hulu Plus subscription service.

About one-third of Chromecast early adopters use it daily to watch free Hulu shows on TV, according to a study by Parks Associates. That stat comes with a caveat: The firm surveyed only 148 Chromecast users (out of about 3,000 total bro ...read more

TV viewers are using TV sets to watch things that have little to do with the traditional couch-potato players, but one company is experimenting with technology that tries to draw streamers, gamers and surfers back to the screen’s original purpose.

The number of connected TV devices sold worldwide will reach 330 million annually by 2017, according to consumer-electronics research firm Parks Associates, almost double the number to be sold in 2013. In May, Parks found 63% of sm ...read more

"Instead of ending support of customers after they buy individual game titles, game companies now focus on building gamer communities and developing ongoing relationships with their customers," said Parks research analyst and study author Pietro Macchiarella. "The positive effect of this approach is that game monetization can be extended beyond the point of sale. Unlike traditional offline games, the online world allows the industry to earn revenue even when people play the same ...read more

While 17 million smart TVs have already made their way into homes, only 10% were connected to the Internet last year, up from 8% in 2010, research group Parks Associates says, because many consider the TVs confusing to use.

From the article, "Confab has Hollywood wired for business" by Marc Graser