OTT Viewers Watch More VMVPD Content, comScore Finds
Over-the-top viewers are spending more time watching virtual MVPDs, blogged comScore Tuesday. Nearly half the time spent by OTT households with a vMVPD such as Sling TV, DirecTV Now, PlayStation Vue, Fubo, Philo, YouTube TV and Hulu Live is spent…
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with that service, said analyst Susan Engleson. OTT adoption rose 17 percent year on year, said the firm. VMVPDs “are a prime example of viewers utilizing digital mediums to watch live content formerly only available on linear TV,” Engleson said. Though penetration is at 5 percent of U.S. households, it rose 58 percent. The average OTT household with a vMVPD service uses 1.5 times more over-the-top services than the average OTT household. Engleson sees those numbers accelerating due to competitive price points and low barriers to entry for consumers because no installation is required: “We will continue to see significant growth in virtual MVPDs in the years to come.” Other providers are testing or have announced plans for a vMVPD offering, “indicating that they take this trend seriously,” she said. With cable companies adding the ability to access Netflix via a set-top box, “it may be that future generations do not distinguish between a streaming box and a cable box at all -- there will just be one place consumers go for their entertainment,” she said.