Be careful what you wish for. Media companies clamoring to join the subscription streaming bandwagon could see forays into over-the-top (OTT) video undermine their existing distribution channels, according to new research.

About 17% of U.S. broadband households are likely to subscribe to HBO’s much-anticipated OTT platform launching in the spring, according to new data from Parks Associates. The data was culled from a fourth-quarter survey of 10,000 U.S. broadband households.

Among these likely subscribers, 91% are pay-TV members and roughly 50% (8.5% of total domestic pay-TV market) said they would cancel their bundled channel service after signing up for the HBO OTT service, which was priced at $14.99 a month in the survey.

HBO rival Showtime also is planning an OTT service launch this year, according to parent CBS. And Dish Network made headlines earlier this month when it said it would launch a standalone OTT service featuring ESPN and other brands for $20 a month.

From the article "Parks: 50% of HBO OTT Video Subs Would Cancel Pay-TV Service" by Erik Gruenwedel.

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