ADDISON, Texas—U.S. over-the-top video fans apparently can’t get enough of streaming television with half of the 10,000 internet households queried by Parks Associates recently reporting they stacked at least four OTT services in Q1 ’22.

According to the Parks’ quarterly tracking service, OTT Video Marker Tracker, this level of service-stacking represents an all-time high in the United States. 

“Service-stacking in the U.S. continues, but there will be a saturation point where households will no longer be willing to add another service and may look to trim back on their number of subscriptions,” said Eric Sorensen, senior contributing analyst at the research firm.

“Service providers are anticipating this and looking to expand worldwide with content and coverage to boost their global offerings," he continued. "This global push led to a bidding war for the exclusive streaming rights to the Indian Premier League cricket event, where Mumbai-based Viacom 18 beat out Disney. All providers are looking for new avenues to expand their global appeal.” 

Video service bundles are among the topics Parks Associates will address during its Future of Video: OTT, Pay TV and Digital Media conference, Dec. 12-14, at the Marina del Rey Marriott in Marina del Rey, Calif.

More information about the conference and the conference agenda is available online.

LONDON—As consumers abandon the pay TV bundle, new research finds that many people are signing up to large numbers of SVOD services, a trend that bodes well for the streaming business but raises long-term questions about costs and subscriber churn. 

A new survey from Ampere Analysis of consumer behavior in the U.S. and Canada found that more than half (52%) of households in the U.S. now have access to three or more SVOD subscriptions, a group the researcher calls “super stackers,” up from 45% in Q3 2020. Almost three in ten (29%) have access to five or more services in the U.S. 

Original content is driving the trend for SVOD stacking, especially in the U.S. where almost half (49%) say original content is the main reason they subscribe, compared to 38% in Canada.

Engagement with specific services also differs between countries. While uptake of Netflix is comparable in both markets, 61% of respondents in Canada report watching Netflix in the last month, compared to 43% in U.S. 

Higher levels of competition among streamers in the U.S. has meant that consumers are now spending less time watching content on each of the services they have access to, Ampere also found. 

The survey reported that there isn’t much difference in the daily use of social media (71% in the US versus 69% in Canada). 

But U.S. respondents are much more likely to say social media is important to them (54% vs. 45%) and Internet users in the U.S. are more likely to see watching TV as a communal activity, with 48% respondents saying it is important to them to watch TV with other people in their household. This up from 42% in Q1 2020, most likely driven by increased time indoors due to the pandemic. 

TV is also seen as an important driver of conversation in the U.S., with 56% respondents saying TV gives them something to talk about with others, compared to 49% in Canada.

Annabel Yeomans, senior analyst at Ampere Analysis says: “As we’ve seen in Europe, there are some big differences in the way people consume TV depending on where they live. In the U.S., TV is a much more important part of daily life and plays a greater role in social interaction than in Canada. Competition among streaming services is also more significant in the U.S. than in Canada. In the last six months, we have seen that this not only impacts stacking rates, but also the growing demand for quality original content as streamers battle to engage subscribers and reach new audiences.”

Ampere interviewed 4000 Internet users aged 16 to 64 in the U.S. and 2000 in Canada as part of a global study carried out twice yearly of 46,000 adults. 

LONDON—Seven in 10 SVOD households in the United States subscribe to more than one service, finds new research from media analyst firm Ampere Analysis.

These households, which Ampere Analysis refers to as “stackers” and represent 71 percent of the total, more than double the 29 percent of households that subscribe to only one service, the firm found.

According to the research, 42 percent of U.S. stackers subscribe to three SVOD services, and in Q3 of 2018 those U.S. households stacking two SVOD services stood at 30 percent.

The research also found that the percentage of households subscribing to four or more SVOD services held steady at 23 percent.

On the other end of the continuum are U.S. households subscribing to one SVOD service. Among those households, dubbed “SVOD Solos” by Ampere Analysis, Netflix garnered 70 percent of subscribers, Amazon 20 percent and Hulu 5 percent.

Disney, which plans to launch its own streaming service in late 2019, will likely displace niche streaming services because of the high satisfaction U.S. consumers express regarding Netflix, Amazon and Hulu, says Toby Holleran, senior analyst at Ampere Analysis.