OTT and cord shaving ‘not a threat to broadcast model’

The rise of OTT and ‘cord shaving’, cutting down on pay TV services, will not kill the broadcast model, according to 79.6% of TV and media firms, polled by Informa Telecoms and Media.

The global survey of “key players in the TV and media market”, conducted by Informa Telecoms & Media ahead of the TV Connect conference in March, found that 67.3% believed that Netflix would not be the dominant OTT player in five years time. Instead, 41.7% predicted Apple would be the dominant player, followed by Amazon/Lovefilm at 39.6% with Google in third place with 16.7%.

The survey also saw 79.2% agree that the broadcast User Interface (UI) will need to be improved in order for pay TV to continue to stay ahead of its OTT competition.

“The Connected 100 responses reflect the changes that are already happening in the connected entertainment industry. It is rare to see experts agreeing to such an extent, for instance over 95% see cloud TV as a reality in the move towards true TV everywhere business models,” said Joanna Jones, events director for TV Connect, Informa.

“As expected, the research also highlighted that the broadcast community sees cord shaving and OTT as threats. However, the survey also suggests that TV providers will combine TV Everywhere and improvements in the User Interface to stay ahead of the OTT specialists.”

Full findings of the research will be presented at TV Connect.