Video streaming: the future of entertainment

Video streaming services have reached subscriber scale in the hundreds of millions over a remarkably short period of time relative to legacy pay TV. This prodigious rise has been fuelled by factors such as communications infrastructure improvements, heavy investment in content by streaming services, and millennials’ viewing habits.

Video streaming services today come in all shapes and sizes; the US alone boasts more than 100 services. The competitive landscape for video streaming in most markets includes global streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon, and local streaming leaders such as Hotstar in India, complemented by a tail of niche providers.

This latest report from GSMA Intelligence looks at the current video streaming market, discussing both its scale and variety. It highlights the reasons behind the rise in video streaming, outlines the key attributes of services and considers their impact on pay TV. The report provides case studies on select global streaming services such as Netflix and YouTube. Looking to the future, the research explores issues such as how many streaming services markets can bear, the trend of content rights inflation and the impact on mobile networks from the growth in video streaming.