Quality of user interface plays a major role in whether U.S. video subscribers recommend their over-the-top service, Parks Associates said. Seventy percent of U.S. broadband households with a major video service consider the interface good, with nearly half rating it “very good,” Parks said in a blast emailed Wednesday and dated Monday, with quality of UI and ease of finding content the most relevant factors driving willingness to recommend a service. A fifth of households that canceled an OTT subscription cited inability to find something to watch. Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon “have largely set the standard for content navigation and ease of use,” said analyst Kristen Hanich. "As new OTT services launch with greater and greater expectations, innovations in UIs could be an even greater differentiator." When searching for something to watch, 12 percent of OTT users consider recommendations from the service as their first step, said Parks. Apple TV owners give high marks to that UI.

The free Apple TV app is available on the Roku platform, and Roku users will be able to subscribe to the premium Apple Plus service through the platform when it launches Nov. 1, said Roku Tuesday. Apple users can subscribe directly to Apple TV channels using their Apple ID and password, it said. Supported Roku streaming devices could add the Apple TV app as of Tuesday in Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, France, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Ireland and the U.K. Roku shares closed 11.5 percent higher Tuesday at $132.82. Last month, the streaming service provider's shares plummeted 19 percent after an analyst (see 1909200051) predicted increasing competition would drive prices for over-the-top video devices such as Roku’s streaming stick “to zero,” while squeezing ad revenue. Pivotal Research Group's Jeffrey Wlodarczak said then that Comcast’s announcement it's providing its Xfinity Flex OTT device to customers for free is a model likely to be followed by other MVPDs.

Reports on the demise of Netflix are “greatly exaggerated,” if the volume of social media “mentions” about the streaming service is a reliable indicator, reported data aggregator Eagle Alpha Friday. Netflix “is in a stronger position than investors have given it credit for as Apple TV Plus loses ground and Hulu maintains its position,” it said. Its analysis of 32 million Twitter transactions shows that Netflix “continues to dominate conversation” with a better than 80 percent share of all mentions, while Apple TV Plus, Roku and Amazon Prime “continue to languish” with less than 5 percent each, it said. “Social media commentary volume is a proxy for consumer preferences and end demand.” Netflix reports Q3 earnings Wednesday, and investors will watch to see if it rebounds from the huge miss in Q2 net subscriber adds that sent the stock tumbling in July (see 1907170070).

Video-hosting service Vimeo's termination of Church United's account for videos promoting sexual orientation change efforts -- content that goes against Vimeo's terms of service -- violates California and New York civil rights law and free speech rights under the California constitution, alleged CU founder James Domen in an amended complaint (in Pacer) Friday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. The plaintiffs ask for unspecified damages and an injunction requiring Vimeo reinstate CU's account and its 89 videos, many of which detail Domen's life as a self-described former homosexual. Outside counsel for New York-based to Vimeo didn't comment Monday.

Forty-six percent of U.S. homes have multiple over-the-top video subscriptions vs. 33 percent in early 2017, reported Parks Associates Wednesday. Most OTT households have Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime Video, but a single service doesn't meet their interests, said analyst Steve Nason. Small and medium-sized services are building their brand and subscriber bases by filling in gaps in content, he said. Overall adoption and awareness of OTT is high, but awareness of individual services is low, making it difficult for smaller services to compete against the scale and resources of larger players, he said. Smaller OTT players have to team with content or marketing partners to boost awareness, he said. Other findings: 53 percent of U.S. broadband households subscribe to at least one OTT service and a pay TV service; nearly three-quarters have an OTT subscription.

Thirty-eight percent of respondents ages 18-34 use Netflix most often to view video content on TV, Cowen wrote investors Monday. The August Cowen survey of 2,500 participants showed YouTube in second with 17 percent, followed by Hulu (12 percent), basic cable networks (11 percent), broadcast networks (6 percent), Amazon Prime Video (5 percent), premium cable networks (3 percent) and other platforms (8 percent).

Amazon and Google continue to mend fences, with Amazon blogging Monday that Google's YouTube TV app is officially available for most Fire TV devices, except first-gen sticks and Fire TVs. The YouTube TV app offers more than 70 channels, said Michael Polin, Fire TV product marketing. He described the service as a “cable-free live TV experience” akin to live TV “without the hassle of renting cable boxes, scheduling complicated installations or committing to long-term contracts.” He cited its unlimited cloud DVR storage space and account-sharing for six people per household, without noting the $50 monthly fee.

Though many expect a bloodbath in subscription VOD with entrants such as Disney+, HBO Max, Peacock and Apple TV+ coming, it's likely no one will dominate and consumers will subscribe to several services, nScreenMedia analyst Colin Dixon blogged Sunday. Among adults online, roughly three in four subscribe to a SVOD service, and the average viewer is willing to get another 1.6.

BitTorrent traffic is rising, with the fragmented streaming video market seemingly a major cause, BroadbandGenie blogged Friday. It said increased streaming services with exclusive content are driving some to "cheaper and easier" piracy rather than paying multiple subscriptions. It said rather than being spurred by price, some are prompted by the need to use multiple interfaces and difficulty of finding particular content: Streaming services could retain some subscribers who might otherwise turn to piracy through use of a unified interface.

Over-the-top advertising is expected to generate $857 million this year, and grow to $2.13 billion by 2024, BIA said Thursday. It said OTT ad revenue is expected to gain 43 percent this year, from $598 million in 2018.