In 2015, just 13% of homes paying for a service subscribed to both an online video service and a traditional pay TV service, but by the end of last year, that figure had more than trebled to 47%, according to new research from Omdia that highlights the incredible rate of change that is impacting the TV and online video sector.
Conversely, in 2015 some 82% of such homes were taking traditional pay TV in isolation, a figure that had dropped to 38% in 2022 – with Omdia forecasting that percentage to reach 27% in 2028.
“Although the picture varies from country-to-country, it has been clear for some time that traditional pay TV is on a downwards path. Pay TV operators have reacted by aggregating online video apps and services, plus other content types, into a single user-experience hub within their universe. It is these super-aggregation and super-bundling efforts that are helping drive the dramatic changes we are seeing,” said Adam Thomas, Senior Principal Analyst at Omdia.
The new Omdia research report “Multisubscription TV & Video Forecast Report: 2015–28” highlights a changed emphasis among pay TV operators, which are now commonly embracing aggregator or super-aggregator strategies. As third-party apps come to be seen as an essential part of the entertainment mix for customers, legacy operators need to weigh up the opportunity cost in terms of churn if they do not offer the most popular apps to their subscription base.
“To be most effective, these aggregated offerings require sophisticated universal search and discovery capability across the content being provided, so making it totally distinct from the individual channel and content packages associated with classic pay TV offerings. This unified experience convinces subscribers that aggregators offer tangible benefits to simple self-bundling,” added Tony Gunnarsson, Principal Analyst at Omdia.