Ovum: in 2016 direct-to-consumer TV will come to pass


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| 09 January 2016




The current buzz around HBO Now, DisneyLife, and premium TV direct-to-consumer (D2C) apps will not reflect the true impact of offers, says analyst Ovum.



As part of its traditional start of the year analysis, Ovum predicts that over the course of the year, D2C launches will be limited to a few major content owners able to carry the strategy off. Plus, a significant proportion of D2C subscriptions will be brokered via bundles and special offers from new intermediaries, such as Internet companies and telecoms operators.

It adds that such so-called super-premium launches will be part of a wider move by the TV industry to segment services more finely for the full spectrum of people prepared to pay to watch. Ovum says that the industry should expect the arrival of a number of ‘less-is-more’ bundles of selected content aimed at young tech-savvy consumers who want more flexibility and choice. It adds that operators that have already made such progress by launching low-priced stand-alone over-the-top (OTT) services in 2014 and 2015 will increasingly integrate these offers with their core product portfolios and brands in order to provide a smoother path to upselling customers to higher-value services.

“Cord-cutting hype has obscured the fact that many consumers value – and are paying for – TV more than ever, if you include spend on both pay-TV and OTT alternatives,” remarked Ovum analyst Rob Gallagher. “Major pay-TV operators in mature high-spending services will attempt to grow their share of big spenders by following Sky in launching bigger, better bundles of the best content and the most sophisticated technologies. But such strategies will be limited to pay-TV’s elite, as success will ultimately be determined by the amount of exclusive TV shows, movies, and sport the operator can afford.”