Advanced Television

OTT $11bn by 2012

August 14, 2009

A new global report from MRG shows how OTT (Over-the-Top) video services will offer new opportunities for IPTV & Cable Operators and media owners to expand their reach through TV-centric open Internet services. Revenues in 2012 should exceed $11 billion, with Internet Set-top Box (ISTB) penetration (including game consoles) exceeding 57 million. Besides cost containment practices, the report identifies what kinds of OTT video content consumers want (and will pay for), based on a global consumer survey done specifically for this report.

“The real question isn’t whether Service Providers (SPs) should implement OTT, as most analysts already agree,” states MRG Analyst Mike Galli. “The real question is how and with what results, which is why we did a ROI analysis for Tier-1, 2 and 3 IPTV SPs explaining the best practices, cost-loading and break-even points for several different configurations of OTT service.”

The report also disputes the belief that “smart TVs” (TVs with Ethernet ports) will replace ISTBs in the next five years, as predicted by some CE promoters. “ISTBs will continue to be strong players beyond 2015,” states MRG President Gary Schultz. “This is illustrated by the evolutionary path ISTBs must follow to stay ahead of the fast changing OTT business.” The report further asserts that many HD (High-Definition) TVs will rely on (external) ISTBs to provide the needed storage, hybrid-processing, progressive download, and EPG-processing capability at an affordable price to deliver HD content.

Categories: Broadband, OTT, OTT, Research Library