Washington Post

Netflix has been criticized for not having enough enduring franchises like Marvel and Star Wars. Having those would certainly aid its efforts to expand into merchandise licensing, which is one of Walt Disney Co.’s highest-margin businesses. Still, while those franchises may have helped Disney+ get a lot subscribers out of the gate, its narrow focus could also limit the ultimate size of its subscriber base. Even for viewers who favor a specific genre, the overwhelming majority of ...read more

The firm has built a reputation for inexpensive, simple television accessories and leads Amazon’s Fire TV, Google’s Chromecast and the Apple TV in the U.S. market, according to research company Parks Associates — even though it tends to get overshadowed by those bigger names. Roku said in May that one-quarter of all smart televisions purchased in the United States have Roku software built in, thanks to partnerships with such brands as TCL, Insignia and Hisense.

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Last year, research firm Parks Associates found that 16 percent of U.S. households with broadband admitted either borrowing video log-ins or sharing their own credentials. For many people under 40, sharing is a relationship test: There’s dating and then there’s HBO-password official.

A few companies say they consider this behavior stealing. “Charter believes that password sharing is a copyright infringement,” said Nathalie Burgos, a spokeswoman for America’s second-largest c ...read more

Beyond its immediate effect on subscribers, the price increase foreshadows a future in which the streaming video market is dominated by a handful of players that have captured the majority of a family’s limited entertainment budget.

There’s some evidence that consumers are willing to pay for more than one streaming service, said Glenn Hower, a senior analyst at Parks Associates, a research firm. The question is whether there’s an upper limit to this number.

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Because canceling something online can be so easy, you tend to see higher cancellation rates across the streaming TV industry, said Glenn Hower, a senior analyst at the market research firm Parks Associates. Although just 1 percent of cancellations are by viewers discontinuing a free trial, many people appear to be spending a matter of months on a streaming service before switching.

“The churn numbers tend to be pretty high, indicating there are a substantial number of consu ...read more

But thermostats that collect data on you aren’t a hypothetical. In fact, they’re quickly becoming the standard: By 2017, market research firm Parks Associates estimates more than half of the thermostats sold in the United States will be “smart.” And one of the biggest players in the market is Nest, which is offered by Google parent-company Alphabet that makes much of its revenue by tracking our behavior and selling us targeted ads.

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However, Google has been successful with Chromecast. At $35, the dongle is cheaper than a set-top box and lets users stream Internet video through phones, tablets and computers running Google’s Chrome browser.

Market research suggests it’s worth Google’s while to keep trying for success in the TV market. A market researcher with Parks Associates told CNET that, while TV sales are down, sales of devices that plug into televisions and play video and music are expected to jump ...read more

The use of mobile devices in the health industry is not ubiquitous yet, but researchers who track the sector say it is trending that direction. The government's push for hospitals to use electronic records - while also reducing the cost of care - has expedited the adoption of newer technology.

"The hospital administrators, especially at large group practices, already realize if you put a smart tool in physicians' hands they can use the device to the point where their product ...read more