New entrants include HBO, which will offer its well-known programming directly online, and broadcast network CBS, which also is making content available directly, bypassing cable.
Dish Network’s Sling TV will deliver a bundle of live TV channels over the Internet for televisions and other devices. Other streaming players include Hulu, Apple and Roku, with Sony expected to enter the market as well.
Netflix now “faces a more competitive environment than at any point in its history,” said Paul Verna, analyst at eMarketer.
“For a long time, Netflix enjoyed almost uncontested leadership in its core businesses — DVD rentals and later streaming — but now it competes for consumer dollars with the likes of Hulu, Amazon, Google, Apple, and even HBO and ESPN.”
Still, eMarketer said that Internet-based television is gaining more ground. In the US, the research firm said, 153.4 million people will watch TV shows on digital devices at least once per month, or some 48 percent of the US population.
Streaming, not cord-cutting
The market for streaming TV is red-hot, but so far has not dented the traditional cable and satellite providers, said Glenn Hower, research analyst at Parks Associates.
Hower said around half of US households with broadband also have a streaming service — most of them Netflix — but that the percentage of those with traditional pay TV has remained steady at 85 to 87 percent.
While many young adults are happy with online services such as Netflix, most households are using streaming to augment their viewing options, Hower said. One reason is that most streaming services lack options such as live sports and other fresh programming.
“It’s really hard to get the same amount of content and the same experience through streaming that you get through a TV subscription,” Hower told AFP.
Still, he said streaming is growing strong and Netflix is “the Goliath in the market” and is ahead of the competition in its global push.
“They were first in the market, they have more content than just about any streaming provider and it’s still incredibly affordable,” Hower said.
