• by Aaron Baar , November 19, 2015

If you needed further proof that streaming video is ever-changing (but here to stay) consider this: 40% of OTT video services offered in the U.S. market were introduced to consumers within the past two years, and 25% came out in 2015. 

According to estimates from Parks Associates’ most recent “OTT Video Market Tracker,” the top video streaming service (based on number of subscribers) is Netflix, followed by Amazon Video and Hulu. Beyond those three, however, the list is dominated by sports and the recently introduced. 

“Consumers are really interested in experimenting with OTT services,” Brett Sappington, director of research at Parks, tells Marketing Daily. “They like Netflix and Amazon and Hulu. And outside of those three, many consumers are experimenting with the [other] services to see what they like.”

Beyond the top three, services offering sports programming capture three spots in the top ten (#4 MLB.TV; #5 WWE Network, and #8 NFL Game Pass) providing sports programming, while services such as HBO Go and Sling TV — which were only introduced this year — are showing early success as well. 

“For a company like HBO to go from zero in March to number six on the list by October is a huge jump,” Sappington says. “Many sports are looking for online services to build audience and revenue. The fact that more content is going to online is an incredible shift.”

Moving forward, even more flux can expected as new, specialized services become available and greater focus is placed on creating original content, Sappington says.

“The market for OTT video services is just getting started. With several offering new, original content and Internet giants like Yahoo! purchasing broadcast rights to major sporting events, more consumers will look to OTT video services in the future,” he says. “The key for the industry will be to package, market, and monetize these services in ways that will drive big money and big business.”