Media consumption worldwide is increasingly occurring in digital formats. The rapid increase in the number of devices competent enough to support digital media along with the escalating Internet access speed has presented consumers with an alternative to access the media content of choice be it entertainment, information, or social activity anytime and anywhere. The snowballing increase in the number of digital media players such as Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, Roku, Boxee, and Apple TV are challenging the conventionally maintained domination of the television as the foremost entertainment hub.
Every year, more and more viewers are giving up on their costly pay-TV subscriptions and opting instead for subscription based Video-On-Demand (VOD) services. Additionally, online media consumption has witnessed remarkable growth over the last few years. Further, among the digital devices, portable electronic devices have taken over as the favored medium of consuming online media.
The internet continues to be a disrupting force impacting the distribution and consumption channels for media. With better network coverage and advanced technologies including 3G, 4G and LTE, the data consumption worldwide has shown substantial growth. The majority of this data growth is ascribed to the different digital media particularly the entertainment services such as video and audio.
Digital technologies fueled by the Internet and the cloud are liberating customers and flourishing the on-demand era by offering speed, convenience, and instant gratification. Major benefits of on-demand entertainment stimulating its popularity include control over viewing time, a wide variety of choice, easy access to numerous devices, unrivaled flexibility in the mode of consumption, and legality linked with transactional video-on-demand as against pirated downloads.
Escalating demand for VoD programming including long and short term content is a major factor driving market growth significantly over the forecast period. With the rapid growth of the VoD programming preferences where viewers can stream or download content from either a traditional TV package or an online source is creating extensive growth opportunities for manufacturers residing in this space. Further, snowballing demand for tailored viewing of digital content paired with mounting consumption of on-demand services through mobile platforms is anticipated to fuel the Video-On-Demand market growth over the next few years.