17% Likely to Buy OTT HBO

According to Parks Associates, 17% of U.S. broadband households are likely to subscribe to an over-the-top (OTT) video service from HBO. Among these likely subscribers, 91% are currently pay TV subscribers, and roughly half would cancel their pay TV service after subscribing to HBO OTT service. The research house says an HBO OTT offering, along with those from other content providers, will create competitive challenges for all ecosystem players, including Netflix, Amazon and pay TV providers.

"2015 is set to be the year of OTT," wrote Brett Sappington, Parks' director of research. "Along with the new services from CBS, HBO, and DISH, we expect several other players to launch or announce services in the U.S. market in the next few months. In Canada, Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications unveiled their shomi online video service in November. In Europe, several players are starting up new OTT services to counter the entry of Netflix into their markets. Others are expanding their OTT offerings in order to reach customers both in their home markets and expatriates who want to watch programs from home."