The Street

Apple TV's share of the streaming player market is still believed to be well below that of Roku (ROKU - Get Report) and Amazon's. A survey done by research firm Parks Associates indicated that Apple TV accounted for 13% of the installed base of streaming players owned by U.S. households with broadband in Q1 2019; Roku devices and Amazon's Fire TV devices were estimated, respectively, to account for 39% and 30%. Last year, eMarketer forecast that 25.1 million Americans would use ...read more

HBO Now leaped into the top-five for the first time, YouTube Red solidified itself into the top-10 for the first time, and both Showtime and Starz moved up or entered the list compared to 2016.

"While the top three are no surprise, the big story over the past year has been the rapid subscriber growth for OTT video services from HBO, Showtime, and Starz. The combination of recognized brands and popular original content is driving demand for their offerings," said Brett Sappin ...read more

While the HomePod is new and the actual speaker appears to be of a much higher fidelity than its rivals, it's not a game-changer.

"Apple is in a position that they haven't often been in over the past 15 years," Glenn Hower, a digital media analyst at Parks Associates, said in an interview from Dallas. "Right now, they're really playing catch-up, trying to make a big splash with home innovations. In some ways, they're responding rather than innovating."

From the article " ...read more

As more streaming services have become available, the demands on the existing Internet infrastructure have increased exponentially. In 2016, another 27 new subscription-based video streaming platforms were launched in the U.S., according to Dallas market research group Parks Associates.

And more are expected this year. Chief among them are large multi-channel streaming platforms that are essentially cable-TV online. In the coming weeks, Hulu is expected to launch a service t ...read more

No longer would HBO be reliant on a broadband operator to deliver Game of Thrones, The Sopranos or Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. (HBO does distribute directly to consumers via streaming service HBO Now, which counts 1 million subscribers, according to Dallas consulting firm Parks Associates.) The most successful producer of TV content in recent history -- 15 straight years as top Emmy award winner -- would be owned by a distributor. Nonetheless, binge-watching could threat ...read more

The price increase to $60 per month also underscores AT&T's focus on a general consumer more likely to want a full selection of channels rather than those seeking a so-called skinny bundle at a lower price. Such viewers are more likely to opt for Dish Network's (DISH) Sling TV or any combination of streaming services that might include Netflix (NFLX) , Hulu or Amazon (AMZN) Prime Video, the country's largest streaming operators, according to Dallas consulting firm Parks Associat ...read more

At last count, 27 subscription-based video streaming platforms were launched in the U.S. in 2016, according to Dallas market research group Parks Associates.

A handful were started by large media conglomerates, while others began with funding from ambitious investors seeking a foothold in digital pay-TV as traditional cable TV and satellite services have stopped growing. Subscribers totaled 96.8 million at the end of the third quarter, compared with 99.8 million four years a ...read more

Nonetheless, Dish Network's (DISH) Sling TV is said to have attracted about 1 million subscribers since launching nearly two years ago, according to Parks Associates, a Dallas industry monitor. Fox is on Sling TV as well as Sony's (SNE) PlayStation Vue and DirecTV Now, which began operation last Wednesday.

From the article "Fox CEO James Murdoch Says Streaming Platforms Better Business Than Going Direct-to-Consumer" by Leon Lazaroff.