Houston Chronicle

According to the research firm Parks Associates, about 23 percent of millennial heads of households subscribe to only over the top TV service such as Netflix.

From the article "There's More To "O.J.: Made In America" But ESPN Satisfied With Five Parts" by David Barron.

So far, though, a relatively small percentage of customers are using the rapidly evolving technologies.

High-tech thermostats are the most commonly purchased smart home devices, but only about 8 percent of U.S. households with the Internet capacity to take full advantage of smart thermostats have them, according to Parks Associates research. Seven percent of homes have wirelessly controlled lighting.

From the article "Competition among power companies lights up by Jordan Blum.

It’s no secret that streaming TV and movies services like Netflix, HBO Go and Showtime Anytime have a lot of viewers who aren’t paying customers. They’re “sharing” the login credentials of friends and family who are cable subscribers.

For the most part, these media companies have looked the other way. In HBO’s case, one executive even chalked it up to marketing. For the most part, no one’s been able to quantify just how much that “marketing” is costing the streaming industry ...read more

While AT&T is first to bring gigabit access to Houston, consumers have search giant Google to thank. In mid-2012, the company launched its Google Fiber Internet and cable TV service in Kansas City with a goal of spurring Internet providers to offer faster speeds, said Brett Sappington, research director at Park Associates.

"Google looked at the current pace of innovation and decided more speed would increase that," Sappington said. "And Google sells ads on its services and k ...read more

The growth of cord cutting has been slow and steady, but analysts think HBO being offered without a cable subscription could start a domino effect. From an earlier IBT story:

As a percentage of the total population, the number of people interested in HBO’s Web-only offering is relatively slim, just 17 percent, according to the Parks survey. Yet if half of that population does in fact decide to cut its cords, it will still dramatically shrink the overall size of the pay-TV ma ...read more

Sony's main office remains in Japan, but its campus in San Mateo is the headquarters for development and marketing for the PlayStation platform for the Americas. While the PlayStation holds the advantage in sales globally, the U.S. office is key for its future in the lucrative North American market. That's where the Xbox has the edge, said Brett Sappington, director of research for Parks Associates of Dallas.

"With this new platform, there's a real opportunity for Sony to tu ...read more

Comcast is launching a service in Houston that offers — for a fee - to fix any malfunctioning computer or gadget that connects to the cable company's network. Its Xfinity Signature Support service, announced in early March and now being rolled out here, is offered as a subscription and through individual fix-it sessions. Technicians will tackle all kinds of devices - PCs, Macs, smartphones, tablets, online game consoles and Internet-connected TVs. By doing so, it's jumping into ...read more