OTT Video No Rival for TV Yet, Says Ovum Research
Over-the-top (OTT) streaming video services don't yet match the quality or breadth of traditional television services, says London-based Ovum, a global analyst. The findings come from Ovum's first ever OTT TV Player Positioning research, which looked at key players in the space (Amazon, Apple, BBC, Google, Hulu, Netflix, Samsung, Sony, and Xbox Live).
While OTT services show strong momentum, says Ovum, they're not yet an alternative to pay TV. The company notes that LoveFilm and YouTube especially should be able to use the financial strength and assets of their parent companies (Amazon and Google) to make giant strides quickly.
Ovum's research finds that half of viewers with connected TV or streaming video devices use OTT services either to catch up with programs or to watch movies. While that's significant, those viewers aren't replacing pay TV with OTT video. Over half of these viewers sill subscribe to pay TV, says Ovum.
The company's research also found that the BBC iPlayer rated highest among content service providers.
"While we expect OTT to become increasingly integral to the home video entertainment mix, there's little evidence yet of consumers dropping their pay TV subscriptions in favor of purely operator-independent solutions," says Jonathan Doran, principal analyst at Ovum. "For the time being, OTT will remain a complement rather than an alternative to pay TV."