In an effort to retain customers, traditional TV providers are turning to a tried-and-true tactic: service bundling. In fact, many cable, satellite and telecom companies now offer packages that include TV, internet and phone services as well as an OTT video subscription for a single, reduced price.
So far, most of the pay TV-OTT partnerships have focused on Netflix, likely because it is the leading OTT service in the US. This year, we expect 86.8% of US subscription OTT video services to watch Netflix at least once per month.
These new service bundles are still in the early stages, so it's too soon to tell whether they will be effective in reducing subscriber churn. What's more, the growing popularity of linear OTT services, like Sling TV and Hulu with Live TV, are likely to complicate matters further, as they offer digital access to traditional TV programming often for a lower monthly cost.
In a special two-part “Behind the Numbers” conversation, eMarketer analysts and forecasters dig into the latest forecasts and discuss the factors that are changing the ways consumers watch video.