By Sadirah Pathan, Contributor, Parks Associates
Consumer expectations of personalized experiences and discovery are higher than ever, with video services and entertainment devices providing user-specific interfaces, search results, viewing recommendations, and advertising. As video services and aggregators grapple with greater personalization and discovery across content sources, the impact of these challenges has major ramifications for services.
While watching traditional tv or channel surfing provides a lean-back experience because of the growth of broadband interconnectivity, streaming services open the doors to the possibility of creating a more engaging and immersive experience for the streaming viewer. During the pandemic, many people could not attend theaters. Several providers promoted enjoying a movie or event with friends or family located in another place. According to the research firm’s latest research, co-viewing is most prevalent among homes with children and most consumers who engage in co-viewing use traditional methods like calling or video chat apps. Parks Associates’ research finds that about 20% of internet households have used a co-viewing application, and 25% said they would be very likely to try a co-viewing feature if offered by their favorite video service.
According to Parks Associates’ most recent data featured during Future of Video, co-viewing is most popular in households with children. Interactive elements, such as watching statistics or fantasy games on another device, are a typical occurrence among sports enthusiasts.
Among the services that offer co-viewing, use is particularly strong among Apple TV+ and sports OTT subscribers, according to Parks Associates consumer data. Co-viewing experiences with family and friends in another location saw an uptake in usage during the height of the pandemic. Additionally, in the realm of sports content, live interactive wagering and fantasy are not only creating better sports viewing experience but also driving revenues. Dynamic and personalized ads are also adding to the online experiences and growing in adoption by services and consumers.
For sports fans, interactive features such as viewing stats or fantasy games on another device are a common practice. Wagering is more popular as services offer the service within the live stream. However, as an industry, the latency time for streaming services remains a challenge when it comes to placing a wager on live action.
Many sports broadcasters have teamed up or launched their own sports book to satisfy demands. In a new feature experience, FuboTV launched FuboTV Sportsbook, which allows players to place bets using real money on the live action of the sports event they are watching. Users can acquire points and compete against their friends and other FuboTV users by making predictions. The games are accessible to subscribers via connected televisions, smart televisions, gaming consoles, and mobile applications. FuboTV has plans to offer rewards for the free-to-play games at a later date.
Parks Associates will host the fifth annual Future of Video: OTT, Pay TV, and Digital Mediaon December 12-14 at the Marina del Rey Marriott in Marina del Rey, CA. This executive conference brings together senior leaders to share insights on new trends in the video and connected entertainment industries, with insights on consumer adoption, churn, and spending. Register Now: https://parksassociates.com/events/future-of-video/register