OTT Subscription Services Surging in Popularity, Finds Limelight
The over-the-top video market isn't saturated yet but is growing fast, finds data released today from Limelight. According to its latest State of Online Video report, 38.4 percent of those surveyed subscribe to 1 service, 18.8 percent subscribe to 2, and over 10 percent subscribe to 3 or more. Only 31.2 percent don't have any OTT subscriptions.
Compare those numbers to the May 2015, when 36.9 percent subscribed to 1 service, 14.0 percent subscribed to 2 services, and just over 8 percent subscribed to 3 or more. Back then, 40.1 percent didn't have an OTT subscription.
The biggest growth, Limelight notes, was for those subscribing to two services. This could show a growing trend in niche OTT offerings, it suggests, which may impact market leader Netflix in the coming years.
The rise in OTT services is already hurting YouTube. When asked where they watch most of their online video, 49.6 percent of respondents in December 2015 said YouTube. This time around, that number dropped to 45.4 percent. Meanwhile, the number of people saying an OTT service has grown from 26.1 percent to 29.8 percent. This trend is especially pronounced for young adults (millennials). This group watches less original content on YouTube than other groups do, and slightly more movies and TV shows from other sources.
Limelight hired a third-party to gather its results, which come from 1,086 adults 18 and over in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. The survey was conducted online, and all of those surveyed were online video viewers. Download the full State of Online Video June 2016 report for free (no registration required).
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