Are consumers increasingly frustrated with OTT content discovery?

Consumers are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of content from streaming video providers and increasingly frustrated with the efforts needed to access it, according to new research by Interpret, entitled “The Future of OTT Aggregation.”

The study reveals that US viewers subscribe to an average of four to five SVOD services, and the majority also access multiple ad-supported or ad-funded on-demand services. That is a lot of content to navigate and manage, and over 20% of US consumers agree that they “subscribe to too many video streaming services.”

Among subscribers to streaming services, fully one-third express an interest in being able to manage and search for their available content from one place. Consumers want aggregation services to help remove pain points from the subscription process. They also expect bundled offerings to deliver greater value, as well as to improve account management, discovery, and content recommendation functionality.

While the OTT market remains highly fragmented, the study highlights several factors that current and future aggregators should pay attention to. For example, through streaming media players, gaming consoles, set top boxes, and smart TV interfaces, most consumers already have multiple potential aggregators in their homes.

Furthermore, the report notes that consumers expect financial value from any bundled offerings, but also derive increasing personal value from offerings that eliminate pain points in the subscription (and cancellation) process. Moreover, most aggregation providers are focused on front-end content interfaces and discovery tools, but there is potential to offer significant differentiation through portfolio and payment management tools. Lastly, content providers are hampering progress in aggregation because they are fighting to retain control over their own parts of the content journey (and related data collection and advertising opportunities), Interpret says.

“Addressing fragmentation will be tricky since there are so many service options, each with its own priorities relative to revenues, data, and audience. Yet, the companies that solve the aggregation puzzle have much to gain. Successful aggregation of content and services will produce an improved, sticky customer experience and will drive subscription and ad revenue opportunities. It will also be important to mid-sized or smaller streaming services that cannot afford to out-market global or regional streaming giants,”  commented Brett Sappington, Vice President at Interpret.