This report covers the multiscreen or TV Everywhere (TVE) market in the United States - this includes solutions from multichannel video programming distributors (MVPD), broadcasters, and programmers. While TVE services vary and classification can be challenging, with some grey area between over-the-top (OTT) services and multiscreen services, due to emerging business models, we typically use the following definitions:
• Multiscreen refers to the presence of a service on multiple devices, notably, portable and tablet devices, but also including connected TV devices (e.g., connected TVs, smart STBs, game consoles, and connected Blu-ray players).
• TVE generally refers to MVPD multiscreen offerings, or broadcaster/programmer multiscreen offerings, which rely on authentication with an MVPD.
• OTT services (by business model) refer to video services that do not rely on a managed service component.
• OTT technology refers to delivery over an unmanaged network.
From the outset, TVE was positioned as a value add-on to existing pay-TV services, in large part, to reinforce the status quo and defend against the growing encroachment of OTT content. While the levels of cord cutting feared by some have failed to materialize, TVE is still viewed as a significant factor to “modernize” existing pay-TV services, extending content to myriad connected devices (mobile, in particular). The market, however, is still nascent and, despite the advancements, consumers can still face a relatively challenging user experience.
To characterize this market the report considers the content offered by key players in the TVE value chain in addition to the various distribution models (e.g. authentication). Furthermore, the market is quantified at a household level for multiscreen engagement (MVPD).