Nearly double the number of 1005 consumers surveyed, some 32%, are interested in watching Internet video on their TV (OTT) as compared to a similar survey undertaken in 2008. However, only 13% said they would consider canceling their pay-TV subscriptions in favor of OTT video, according to ABI Research’s “How Consumers Buy, Consume, and Manage Digital Content.”
Internet media will eventually compete head-to-head with broadcast and cable pay-TV services, but that day is still out on the horizon, ABI’s analysis concludes. Despite growing interest and use of Internet TV services–among older as well as younger consumers–alternative Internet TV services, such as Hulu and Netflix, on the whole are too decentralized and as yet too complicated technologically for everyday consumer ease of use.
“Trying to fit all these individual pieces together to replicate what you get from pay-TV, is often either too much work, or certain content is still missing. It’s partly the multiple content aggregators involved, but there may also be technological issues – insufficient bandwidth in the consumer’s online connection to cope with the demands of HD, for example,” industry analyst Michael Inouye agreed in a news release.
Consumer education and information will help surmount these hurdles, ABI’s analysts say, as will simplification of user interfaces “paired with appropriate controllers or input devices.” In addition, OTT video service providers will also have to accept that despite “lingering quality-of-service issues” Wi-Fi is most consumers home network technology of choice.
