E-commerce Times

Wearables have been seeing tremendous growth since Parks Associates first started tracking the category in 2013. Fitness trackers or watches are reaching almost a quarter of broadband households, at an adoption rate of 23 percent.

The distinct form factors are blurring, as fitness trackers and smartwatches serve overlapping needs, and marketing messages do not draw a clear difference. Overall, smartwatches are gaining ground quickly, and one-third of smartwatch owners used a ...read more

The bottom line is that operators need to begin now, knowing that changes will take years to accomplish. Companies must begin with specific goals and objectives in mind, with appropriate expectations of results and timing. The strategy needs to be top-down, with commitments of executive management driving the change. 

From the article "What Shifting Data Use Means for Pay-TV and Video Services" by Brett Sappington.

Concerns about data security also have been shown to increase with ownership of more connected devices. Currently, U.S. broadband households own an average of 10.4 connected devices -- including entertainment, smart home, smart speaker and connected health devices.

From the article "AI Raises the Bar for Home Network Security" by Brad Russell.

In a recent survey, 25 percent of broadband households indicated they were familiar with some type of VR technology, but just 8 percent actually owned a headset, Parks Associates researchers found.

From the article "Virtual Reality: Slow Growth but Expanding Use Cases" by Billy Nayden.

A decline in local broadcast news viewership has exacerbated the decline in diversity of coverage. Consumers have been replacing local news with news from social media and national outlets.

Recent surveys have confirmed the overall growth of social media news, growth among viewers 50 and older, and social media's place among young viewers. Sixty-seven percent of U.S. adults reported getting some of their news from social media in 2017, up from 62 percent in 2016, Parks Assoc ...read more

For its part, Univision said it extended an olive branch, but that Dish so far has shown no willingness to back down. That could be a portent of how the HBO negotiations will proceed in the days or weeks to come.

"Dish has a long history of aggressive carriage negotiations with networks," noted Brett Sappington, senior director of research at Parks Associates.

"It has been unafraid to have blackouts, or to eliminate channels from their packages, if they cannot reach term ...read more

"Broadband providers are more likely to manage traffic for the most popular video streaming sites, such as YouTube and Netflix, because those services account for much of the traffic across their networks," noted Brett Sappington, senior director of research at Parks Associates.

From the article "Despite Emmys, Road Ahead Is Bumpy for Streaming Services" by Peter Suciu.

Throttling connections is simply one of those measures.

"Broadband providers are more likely to manage traffic for the most popular video streaming sites, such as YouTube and Netflix, because those services account for much of the traffic across their networks," noted Brett Sappington, senior director of research at Parks Associates.

From the article "Despite Emmys, Road Ahead Is Bumpy for Streaming Services" by Peter Suciu.