DALLAS—New research from Parks Associates finds more than 46 million households worldwide will subscribe to a pay 4KTV service by 2018. Pay TV providers will deploy this service as a differentiator, especially among younger consumers who are more likely to use new features such as TV Everywhere and cloud DVRs, but also have slightly lower subscription rates for pay TV services. In the U.S., 82 percent of consumers 18-22 have a pay TV subscription, compared to 87 percent among older consumers.

“To enjoy the true benefits of 4K, three things need to be present: The television, the content, and a way to get the content to the TV,” said Brett Sappington, director of Research at Parks Associates. “4K can deliver an enhanced experience to viewers, but these three factors are not yet aligned. Getting 4K content to the TV remains a key challenge as is the pace of production of 4K content.”