Streaming Landscape Shifting Toward Smart TVs, Says Parks

Twenty-seven percent of U.S. broadband subscribers listed a Samsung Tizen smart TV as their primary device for viewing video content in Q3, said a Tuesday Parks Associates report, which said the smart TV will become the default streaming platform in U.S. households this year. In 2022, there will be more content partnerships and service acquisitions among providers and manufacturers, said analyst Eric Sorensen, and content creators will leverage their ability to reach audiences directly. Service and content providers will adapt their business models to address higher churn levels, which rose 5.5 points to 45% for subscription VOD services last year, he said. Acquisitions and consolidations are becoming key ways for streaming firms to compete in the face of limited material and the constant demand for more new content, Sorensen said. Streaming media providers will face increasing competition from digital and social content producers this year as popular online content creators circumvent established distribution models to build streaming applications from the ground up, he noted, citing Kevin Frederick’s KevOnStage’s YouTube channel. "Streaming apps provide new revenue opportunities, especially with the chance to retain content ownership rights,” Sorensen said. Digital content creators can monetize content and build audiences collected from social networking and video sharing platforms, bringing them to their streaming applications and websites, he noted. The top 10 streaming services are Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, ESPN+, Paramount+, Apple TV+, Starz and Showtime. Disney+ recently passed Hulu to join the top three; Hulu and ESPN+ are included in the Disney Bundle.