Apple TV, Roku _ Who's Winning the OTT War and what are we Watching

Among those who use streaming media players, Roku owners access new subscription video platforms more than Apple TV which becomes more interesting when you factor in that currently there are more Apple TV devices deployed. This new research was published and presented at this week's NAB show by Parks Associates where they profiled the different device owners streaming and content purchasing habits. Their findings showed that 86% of Roku owners use one or more subscription OTT service, versus only 77% of Apple TV owners. Additionally, 75% of Roku owners use Netflix, compared to 63% among the Apple TV crowd. As a point of difference, more Apple TV owners use Amazon Prime Instant Video – 40% versus 28% and Apple TV also has a clear lead in sales passing $1 billion last year. On a similar topic, the latest study from video delivery firm Qwilt shows that Amazon's Instant Video is the third largest video site (March 2014), behind Netflix (57.5 percent) and YouTube (16.9 percent). Although it's sitting at a modest 3%, Amazon is still beating out Hulu (2.8 percent). I expect to see this number rising  considerably, since this data was collected before the Fire TV set-top box hit the market last week. More: 04/09/14 Advanced Television - More Roku owners than Apple TV owners use OTT and 04/09/14 Multichannel News - Roku Tops Apple TV In OTT Usage: Study and Qwilt 04/04/14 - Amazon Rising – Amazon’s Streaming Video Surpasses Hulu and Apple