OTT vs. Pay TV
When it comes to buying TV shows and movies digitally, you might think OTT players such as iTunes and Netflix have the advantage. But an independent survey from CSG found that consumers are pretty willing to buy content from either provider, with 71% saying they’d buy from OTT and 70% saying they’d buy from their pay TV provider. Given their status as equals, support solutions provider CSG believes pay TV operators have the opportunity to take market share because of their relationships with customers and ease of use (for example, 71% of customers surveyed said they’d prefer to have digital content charges on their providers’ monthly bill). Another advantage for pay TV is quality of service, since unlike OTT, they own and control the network. Ease of use ranked as the 2nd most influential factor in US consumers’ decision to purchase digital content, with more than 21% citing it as important. Price is the single most influential factor, with more than 35% of consumers saying it has the most impact on buying decisions. However, CSG warns against focusing entirely on price, suggesting different strategies to attract consumers with different price and payment preferences. For example, younger consumers may be less likely to want digital content charges tied to a monthly set-top subscription, but 25-54s might be a good target for higher-priced premium content. Download an executive summary of the report here.
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