According to Parks Associates, the percentage of UK broadband households stating that they are likely to cancel their pay TV service has increased to 24% in late 2018 from 12% in late 2015. The research house says the intent to cancel is higher among households that watch online video services.
"Subscription streaming services, also called OTT service subscriptions within the industry, have become incredibly popular in the UK over the past two years, with 52% of households subscribing to at least one," said Brett Sappington, senior director of research at Parks. "Ofcom, the UK's video regulator, announced in mid-2018 that OTT video service subscriptions have overtaken traditional pay TV subscriptions, primarily due to the popularity of Now TV, Netflix, and Amazon."
The number of OTT options available and adoption of OTT services in the UK today are similar to U.S. figures in 2015. If the UK OTT market follows a similar pattern as the United States, the average number of per-household OTT subscriptions in the UK should increase steadily over the next few years.
"Comparatively low online video penetration presents opportunities for local and global service vendors to expand their presence in the UK market," Sappington said.
Other findings indicate:
- Freeview, online video and premium pay TV are the leading video sources for UK broadband households.
- 24% of UK households subscribe to two or more services, compared to 43% of U.S. households in 2018.