New telco video services could capture as much as 25% of pay TV subscribers in markets where they roll out in just the first few years, according to a study from The Diffusion Group.
The report, “Receptivity to Telco TV Among Pay TV Subscribers -- Primary Research and Analysis,” claimed that there are a sufficient number of ambivalent or dissatisfied cable and direct-broadcast satellite subscribers, so a competitive offering, with even slight cost advantages, could be disruptive to the market balance.
"Some 84% of U.S. households now subscribe to some form of pay TV service, be it cable or satellite," Dale Gilliam of Diffusion said in a prepared statement. "However, 15% of these subscribers are dissatisfied with the quality of their current pay TV service, and 22% are likely to switch from their current service to a telco TV service given some level of cost discount."
As phone companies develop responses to cable's triple-play threat, they have realized that the linchpin service is video in that it is by far the most sticky and churn-resistant part of the bundle, according to Diffusion.
The report features the results of an April study of more than 1,500 households regarding awareness of, and interest in, TV and bundled services offered from their local phone providers. Central to the report is an analysis of how interest fluctuates relative to different levels of monthly cost savings.
