Blog articles from 10/2014

Game of Thrones, Girls, and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver could be coming to a device near you, whether or not you have a pay-TV subscription. This morning at a Time Warner, Inc. investor meeting, HBO chief executive Richard Plepler announced that the network would launch a standalone over-the-top service as soon as 2015 . The jump would not be drastic from a technology standpoint, as HBO currently delivers content through its HBO GO app. However, a move into the...

Let it not be said that HBO restricts drama to its original series. Today’s announcement that HBO will launch an online video streaming service next year has added a new twist to the pay TV versus OTT plotline. While Mr. Plepler’s statement leaves us with as many questions as it provides answers, here are three things that we can take away from this news. This move shouldn’t be a surprise. Few that follow the industry closely will be surprised by HBO’s announcement....

Brett Sappington , Director of Research at Parks Associates, will be speaking at TV Xperience World 2014 on October 15. He will be presenting new research on 4K technology, Ultra HD, and pay-TV during the session " Understanding the Importance of 4K " from 4:25 - 4:45pm.   Parks Associates research finds more than 46 million households worldwide will subscribe to a 4K UHD pay-TV service by 2018. Pay-TV providers will deploy this service as a differentiator,...

New research released by Parks Associates this week reveals that approximately two-thirds of Amazon Prime Instant Video subscribers also rent or purchase titles through the service, and their average expenditures are increasing. These findings emphasize the potential role of transactional services to supplement subscription OTT. Amazon’s ‘Transparent’ Gets A Second Season, Netflix Competitor Touts ‘Binge-Factor’ “Amazon is certainly getting traction in the...

In a recent article for the San Francisco Gate , details of an open letter sent from Apple shareholder and activist Carl Icahn sent to Apple CEO Tim Cook were revealed.  In the letter, Icahn provides predictions for the next generation of Apple products, including its popular iPhone and iPad series, forecasting that the company's new releases will continue to drive popularity and demand, thereby raising stock prices, which he feels are too low for comfort. Harry Wang ,...

According to new Parks Associates research  released today, 37% of U.S. broadband households regularly use transactional services for OTT video, such as online video rentals and downloads. The research comes from the firm's 1Q 2014 consumer survey of 10,000 broadband households, now compiled in the primary research report, 360 View: CE Adoption and Trends . Other data highlights from the report include: 2/3 of Amazon Prime Instant Video subscribers rent or...

This morning, activist investor Carl Icahn issued an open letter to Apple, urging the technology innovator to buyback more shares. As an industry analyst, I am more interested in Mr. Icahn’s rationales and assumptions about Apple’s future growth, and there are plenty in that open letter. We agree with Mr. Icahn on many fronts but also disagree with him on several other areas. Here is a quick summary of how I dissect his arguments. What we agree with Mr. Icahn:...

Parks Associates research shows that online video ranks highest among younger consumers as the most important video source . Increasingly, connected devices such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops are becoming secondary screens for watching, discovering, and sharing video content.  However, as CE devices become a preferred tool to manage and share videos, music, and photos, incorporating these functionalities in CE devices also introduces a whole new layer of complexity....