At the recent TelcoTV and the Cloud Services Summit, Parks Associates shared new research in video services, which shows telcos will lead the next stage in pay-TV services as the number of IPTV subscribers in the U.S. will exceed 18 million in 2017. The research firm hosted the pre-event workshop "New Opportunities in the Connected Home - Expanding Role of the Service Provider" at TelcoTV and moderate multiple sessions during the conferences in Las Vegas.
New research from Parks Associates shows telcos are leveraging their fiber-based broadband offerings to attract new customers. Satellite's share of the pay-TV market will drop to 30 percent by 2017. Cable's share will fall to 52 percent, and IPTV's will rise to 18 percent. Cable subscription figures will decline from 60.7 million in 2011 to 56.1 million in 2017. The number of U.S. IPTV subscribers will rise from 8.8 million in 2011 to 18.6 million in 2017.
The era of huge subscriber gains in the U.S. pay-TV market is over. Cable TV providers are losing subscribers to IPTV services from AT&T, Verizon and CenturyLink. Satellite providers also will experience subscriber loss as telcos continue to expand fiber footprints, leverage pricing on triple- and quad-play bundles, and offer advanced TV Everywhere products. Going forward, subscriber retention will become the focus for cable and satellite providers.
Parks Associates notes U.S. subscribership to satellite and cable television services has plateaued. However, large cable operators such as Comcast and Time Warner Cable are already adjusting their messaging and packages to emphasize their high-speed services. Google has also entered this market with deployment of Google Fiber in Kansas City.
