Interesting continuing trend. Has been going on for many years now.
"Free or low-priced TV is more readily available to consumers than ever
before," said Adriana Waterston, Horowitz's senior vice president of insights
and strategy. "The number of OTA channels is increasing. And new technologies
like OTA DVRs, OTA integration into connected TV platforms and the rollout of
Next Gen TV standards will only serve to increase consumer awareness and
accelerate usage of over-the-air content in the viewing diets of American
viewers."
True enough, although services like Locast, *or a broadcaster-provided
equivalent*, would make OTA somewhat less appealing. Maybe as a fallback, when
broadband is unavailable, or for the minority of households that still have no
broadband.
The actual reason, for the increase in OTA antenna usage, is that an Internet
option, for local live TV, mostly doesn't exist. Let's get real here. Those
millennials who are buying up TV antennas would certainly have to problem with
an Internet alternative!
Bert
-----------------------------------
https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/over-the-air-sticking-around-amid-streaming-wars
Over-the-Air Sticking Around Amid Streaming Wars
A quarter of TV watchers use antennas, with nearly half starting to use them in
the last three years, per Horowitz.
Michael Balderston Nov 20, 2019
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y.-Disney+ is the shiny new toy for consumers and has seen a
significant response in its first week, but some consumers are going old
school, watching TV through over-the-air antennas.
This comes via a report from Horowtiz Research, "OTA: The New TV Growth Story
2019," which finds that 29% of TV content viewers 18 years and older own an
antenna, while one in four (24%) actively use an antenna to get TV content on
at least one of their sets. For many, the move to antenna is actually a recent
phenomenon, with 44% of antenna users saying they got their first antenna
within the past three years.
Horowitz found in its report that many of the stigmas of antenna users (older,
not tech-savvy, lower-income) don't completely pan out. Half of antennas users
are under 50, with 24% of them being between 18 and 34. The average household
income is actually higher than non-antenna users. And even with an antenna,
they tend to be heavier TV viewers and are more likely to be streamers than
non-antenna users; 87% of antenna users stream compared to 75% of non-antenna
users.
One reason that could account for the rise in antenna usage is the cord-cutting
trend. Horowitz found 39% of streamers that got an antenna said it was a key
because they wanted to cancel their cable/satellite service; 28% said it was a
reason, but not the key reason.
Still, 60% of antenna users still have a traditional pay-TV service. MVPD
subscribers use antennas to get specific channels not available through their
cable/satellite service, like local channels or those in the middle of a
carriage dispute. Other reasons are as a backup in case of an outage, to avoid
having a cable box and on TVs that may not be wired for cable.
"Free or low-priced TV is more readily available to consumers than ever
before," said Adriana Waterston, Horowitz's senior vice president of insights
and strategy. "The number of OTA channels is increasing. And new technologies
like OTA DVRs, OTA integration into connected TV platforms and the rollout of
Next Gen TV standards will only serve to increase consumer awareness and
accelerate usage of over-the-air content in the viewing diets of American
viewers."
Horowitz Research's website has the full "OTA: The New TV Growth Story 2019"
report.
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