New research from Parks Associates shows that there are now close to 300 OTT video services in the United States, more than double the number that existed in 2014. Notable launches from this year include HBO Max, Peacock, and Quibi.
The OTT Video Market Tracker study also shows that fewer services are shutting down this year than in previous years. In 2018, 19 services left the market while only 6 services ended operations so far this year.
The increase in services is directly related to the entertainment industry looking for new ways to meet the demand for in-home entertainment. Steve Nason, research director at Parks, explains that theaters closing and major movie titles being delayed has caused studios to look to streaming as the best option for reaching viewers.
“As theaters began to reopen over the summer, film studios had to weigh their options in releasing new titles,” said Steve Nason, Research Director, Parks Associates. “The decision to delay the latest James Bond film No Time to Die hit the theater industry hard, and Disney’s announcement to move the Pixar film Soul to Disney+ shows studios are putting more emphasis on streaming as many theaters remain closed or at limited capacity. We could see studios who also own streaming services experiment more with different transactional and windowing options within their offerings, as Disney did with Mulan on Disney+ in September.”