Sling TV introduced the world to streaming pay-TV service, which has evolved into the concept of “virtual MVPDs.” As the market becomes more crowded, virtual MVPDs must differentiate their offerings to compete not only with each other but also compete with traditional pay-TV operators. This report identifies virtual MVPD deployment and growth strategies, identifies market differentiators, and ...

While viewing of linear television has declined among broadband households, live video—sports, news, and events—continues to play a critical role in the television business. Alternative platforms have stepped in to capture a portion of live audience, and services like Facebook Live and Periscope have led the charge in live online video entertainment. This report explores the state of live broa...

Voice technology is an emerging trend in the consumer entertainment world, with voice control increasingly becoming embedded in devices such as smart speakers, TV remotes, and smart TVs. This report presents an overview of the voice technology landscape for consumer entertainment services, with a focus on crossovers, enabling technologies, and new opportunities. It also includes five-year forecast...

Consumers are entering the smart home market via multiple paths. This report documents the buyer journey, describing intentions for first product/system purchase, actual purchase behavior, user-reported experience at stages of ownership, and how follow-on purchases are made. In addition, the report analyzes channel effectiveness and opportunities to improve the customer experience at each stage of...

As the connected home ecosystem continues to grow and the technical complexity of broadband households increase, the technical support needs of consumers change. This report examines consumer support needs for new and emerging connected devices along with the various approaches to problem solving among consumers. It also details support service trends and forecasts the revenue opportunity for prem...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning are powerful enabling technologies that can affect all aspects of consumer entertainment. This report will examine the new opportunities and service features that AI can unlock as well as the companies poised to take advantage. The report assesses the short- and long-term impact of AI on the entertainment industry and the future role of AI in user ...

New personal identification and authentication technologies have the potential to transform the way that entertainment services are delivered, accessed, and experienced. These technologies offer a high level of security, often incorporating biometrics, such as voice, fingerprint, iris or retinal features, and facial characteristics. They also have the potential to support truly personalized entert...

While OTT video services continue to emerge in specific regions or nations, an increasing number are looking at global expansion. Content producers and OTT service providers want to capture audiences, and revenues, worldwide. This report explores this trend, including the complexities of offering OTT video services across markets, content licensing, localization, platform considerations, and reven...

As the world moves toward singularity, the simultaneous improvement of technologies enabling the smart home is transforming products and services. This report reviews the evolution of technology across multiple dimensions, such as AI, robotics, and distributed computing, and the impact on hardware cost and software development lifecycle. It provides a vision of the future state of the smart home a...

Voice can provide a simple, compelling user experience, but the path to adding voice controls to any product, service, or application is complex. As major companies continue to create voice-enabled interfaces, product designers, developers, and manufacturers will be forced to rethink the user experience and user interface. This report profiles the key technology partners that can help companies in...

Augmented reality (AR) has the great potential to revolutionize the way in which consumers interact with technology, each other, and the world around them. Some believe that AR devices could even replace smartphones and personal computers in the future. This report presents an overview of the current state of AR technologies and devices, with an emphasis on new innovations in the AR space that can...

An increasing number of providers across global markets offer, or are testing, gigabit-speed broadband services, pushing new fixed-line data offerings to data-hungry consumers. This report examines current competition in gigabit-speed services as well as operator strategies to retain subscribers in the face of such high-speed competition. The report analyzes broadband churn and cord cutting, as we...

Virtual reality is capturing the imaginations of consumers and the video industry regarding new use cases and levels of immersion. However, for VR to succeed, a full ecosystem of devices, services, and content must exist as well as a viable economy that allows profitability. This report examines the evolving ecosystem for VR, including content creation, distribution, and monetization and the major...

Partnerships are vital to creating an intelligent and coordinated ecosystem. Works with Nest, Apple HomeKit, and SmartThings are all building an ecosystem of products and services that seamlessly work together and provide an exceptional user experience. This report reviews the strategies of the major smart home platforms in the consumer electronics and security industries and their approach to att...

This report assesses how the smart home is expanding beyond lights, locks, and thermostats to include new products such as smart beds, mirrors, and appliances. It examines how these devices and appliances address additional pain points in the home and enhance overall connected home experiences. The report also estimates the US market size for these devices and appliances....

Low power wide area networks are enabling new applications and services. At the same time cost reductions make LPWAN a competitive solution for many existing solutions. This report highlights the opportunities for LPWAN....

As changing demographics drive the market for independent living solutions, new solutions are entering the market to fulfil market demand. This report provides an overview of the competitive landscape of independent living and connected health platforms in the smart home....

With more content moving online, distributors are forced to adapt to the new models of distribution. OTT services, virtual MVPDs, and other forms of distributing digital media have become the norms in the content space. At the same time, new approaches to distribution can affect content length, monetization options, and branding. This report explores the business of content distribution today and ...

This report examines the entrance into the mobile services market of Wi-Fi-first providers such as cable companies, MVNOs, and Internet companies like Google. It provides consumer Wi-Fi usage data to measure the potential impact of this disruption. It reviews new Wi-Fi standards and analyzes the growing use of Wi-Fi technologies in mobile operators’ HetNet network strategy. The report also provi...

The smart home starts at the front door – smart door locks, video doorbells, and garage doors are access-control devices that are foundational to smart home growth. The front door also represents the access point for a future world of services. Companies are vying for ecosystem control of access points into the home that leverage home service opportunities. This report assesses the access contro...

This report assesses how the smart home is expanding beyond lights, locks, and thermostats to include new products such as smart beds, mirrors, and appliances. It examines how these devices and appliances address additional pain points in the home and enhance overall connected home experiences. The report also estimates the US market size for these devices and appliances....

Low power wide area networks are enabling new applications and services. At the same time cost reductions make LPWAN a competitive solution for many existing solutions. This report highlights the opportunities for LPWAN....

This report examines the entrance into the mobile services market of Wi-Fi-first providers such as cable companies, MVNOs, and Internet companies like Google. It provides consumer Wi-Fi usage data to measure the potential impact of this disruption. It reviews new Wi-Fi standards and analyzes the growing use of Wi-Fi technologies in mobile operators’ HetNet network strategy. The report also provi...

Voice-based technologies are gaining momentum in key industry verticals. In particular, voice-based personal assistants are enjoying recent notoriety, driven by use in connected speaker products, smartphones, and computers. This report examines the ecosystem for voice-based technologies, identifies the market leaders in voice assistants, and assesses the market impact of voice on product and servi...

Virtual reality has the potential to impact multiple industries with its versatility and ever-increasing applications, including entertainment, communication, and productivity, among others. With devices entering the market and consumers gaining interest in the technology, both hardware companies and content creators are eager to leverage VR technology to redefine the user experience. This report ...

Pay-TV providers are increasingly facing online challengers that have extensive expertise in using data to define and drive their businesses as well as user experiences. Big data is the new field for competition, and developing more strategic methods to leverage collected data to improve services and revenues is critical for the pay-TV industry. This report focuses on the impact of big data on the...

Several factors are causing operators to reassess the ways in which they package their pay-TV offerings, including carriage fee battles, changing consumer preferences, new regulations, emerging technologies, and aggressive competition. As a result, many are exploring opportunities for skinny bundles, a la carte offerings, or other options. This report examines global and regional trends in video...

With margins for content shrinking in the on-demand digital video world, many digital video service providers must rely increasingly on advertising revenue to retain customers with low-price or free content services. The mass audience measurement tools from the past are proving ineffective in the age of personalization, requiring new focus by content and service providers to demonstrate the value ...

The purpose of this report is to inform companies about threats to U.S. professionally installed, professionally monitored alarm companies in the next 3-5 years. Specifically, it seeks to understand the potential impact of various competing DIY solutions on the monitored security industry. The report surveys DIY solutions and provides profiles of key DIY and traditional solution players and a fore...

The Evolution of Security and Smart Home provides our clients an update to Parks Associates’ 2014 report Competition in the Residential Security Market. These reports examine the competitive forces across the market segments addressing residential security as providers and manufacturers seek market expansion and enrichment through smart home system products and services. This report also identi...