• by Wayne Friedman , June 7, 2016

Digital TV Research expects U.S. OTT revenues to soar 43% in five years to $24.4 billion (in 2021) from $17.1 billion this year -- despite the fact that U.S. -- as well as Canadian -- markets are by far "the most mature in the world."

Canada’s SVOD revenues are expected to climb 48% to $1.5 billion from $986 million this year.

The number of SVOD users is projected to hit 76 million by 2021, with the average user buying 1.33 subscription video-on-demand services. Total number of subscriptions in North America will grow to 109.6 million in 2021; it was at 81.8 million at the end of 2015.

Advertising on OTT sites generated $5.65 billion in 2015, nearly doubling to $10.98 billion in 2021.

Individual online TV/video rentals will decline as SVOD grows. Revenues will sink to $1.74 billion in 2021, from $2.02 billion in 2014. Download sales of TV/video will continue to slowly climb -- to $2.5 billion in five years, from $1.5 million in 2015.