Research from Parks Associates has revealed the fast growing nature of the UK over-the-top (OTT) market with 33% of homes in the country taking up such a service at the end of the third quarter of 2015.
The analyst’s Connected Consumer in Europe report surveyed broadband households in the UK, Germany, Spain, and France to identify pay-TV and OTT video adoption and usage trends. In the UK, Sky and Virgin Media (Liberty Global) control almost four-fifths of pay-TV households. UK ISP Talk Talk now rivals BT in pay-TV services with 8% of the market.
The study also revealed UK households with pay-TV services were far more likely to have premium sports channels than pay-TV households in other European markets. Currently almost a third of UK households with pay-TV subscribe to a premium sports package while just over half (54%) of pay-TV subscribers take Sky’s pay-TV service. The study also revealed that only 15% of households with pay TV subscribe to premium film channels.
“Overall OTT video usage in the UK favours broadcasters,” said the Parks Director, Research, and Connected Consumer in Europe report author Brett Sappington. “The most popular OTT video sources in the UK include BBC’s iPlayer, ITV Player, All4, and Demand5 – all catch-up or on-demand offerings from broadcasters. New OTT video market entrants, especially those with paid services, will have to provide unique value in order to make substantial gains. However, the demand for interesting content is strong enough that there are market opportunities for new OTT video players. Nearly 20% of UK broadband households have recently used a Netflix service, despite the free OTT catch-up options.”