Parks Associates today released its new Quantified Consumer study, entitled COVID-19: Impact on Communications and Entertainment, which reveals that in 3Q 2020, more than 50% of US broadband households reported that their broadband usage has increased since the start of the COVID-19 crisis.
According to the study, while consumers report broadband performance is keeping pace with the increased demand, in Q3 2020, 24% of fixed broadband households reported plans to upgrade their speed in the next six months, compared to 18% in 2Q 2020.
"Broadband upgrade plans indicate many households see some COVID-19-related changes as permanent," reports Steve Nason, research director, Parks Associates.
The new study examines the impact of COVID-19 on service providers and consumer adoption and satisfaction throughout the communications, consumer technology, and entertainment and home services sectors. The research reports that COVID-19 continues to widen the OTT/Pay-TV gap.
Nason adds, "For video services, OTT service stacking has been particularly pronounced, with 45% of US broadband households subscribing to three or more OTT services. Many consumers are planning to add new services such as Disney+, Apple TV+, HBO Max, and Peacock as a permanent part of their OTT service portfolio, beyond the traditional Big 3: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Hulu."
The researcher observes that as many across the US remain homebound, households are continually relying on video content to fill their time outside of work and school. Within video services, Parks finds that COVID-19 has accelerated the trend of video viewers accessing OTT offerings at much higher rates than a pay-TV service via a traditional or online provider.
"Many traditional pay-TV subscribers are migrating to online pay-TV offerings or standalone OTT services," Parks' Nason notes. "Traditional providers, who still comprise the majority of the pay-TV market, have to continually seek ways to integrate online video services into their offerings either through homegrown solutions or external partnerships."
For more information on the COVID-19: Impact on Communications and Entertainment report and other studies from Parks Associates, contact [email protected].