Export Compliance Daily is a Warren News publication.

TV Antenna Sales Rise as Consumers Continue to Seek Lower Cost Video Services: Parks

U.S. broadband households using antennas reached 20 percent at the end of 2017, up from 16 percent in early 2015, Parks Associates reported. There's “steady decline” in pay-TV subscriptions and a rise of over-the-top video subscriptions, said Parks Thursday. “Digital…

Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article

Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.

antennas are experiencing a resurgence as consumers consider over-the-air TV and OTT video services as alternatives to pay-TV,” said analyst Brett Sappington. The portion of “never subscriber” households holds steady, while household cord-cutting grew between 2015 and 2017, presenting an opportunity for antennas as an affordable means to broadcasts, Sappington said. High cost and low price/value perception spurred service cancellation and bundle shaving, said the analyst, with more than half of households that have switched, shaved or cut the cord saying service is “not worth the cost,” he said. MVPDs should address the value perception and “re-establish their role as the consumers’ source for interesting content,” Sappington said. Forty-six percent of pay-TV subscribers are aware they can access VOD from their operator, including free programming, he said: “Many indicate that they want to purchase online video services through their pay-TV provider and to access the service through their channel guide.”