The universe of U.S. television homes is growing—and so is the TV audience. According to Nielsen’s 2014 Advance National TV Household Universe Estimate (UE), there are 115.6 million TV homes in the U.S., up 1.2% from the 2012-2013 estimate of 114.2 million. Nielsen estimates that 294 million persons age 2 and older live in these TV homes, an increase of 1.6% from last year.

Despite all of the talk about cord-cutting, a new report from Digital TV Research  states that the number of pay TV subscribers in North America will continue to  increase – albeit at a slow rate. However, the Digital TV North America report  states that pay TV penetration will remain flat.

According to a new analysis by TDG, 56% of all US broadband households have at least one TV connected to the Internet, either directly via smart TVs or indirectly via ancillary devices like game consoles and Blu-ray players.

“Whether your goal is delivering OTT services to the TV, or expanding the level of control pay-TV subscribers enjoy, the reality that six in ten broadband households use a connected TV is encouraging news,” notes Michael Greeson, TDG Founding Partner.

At the end 2012, North America and Western Europe had effectively made the transition to digital terrestrial television (DTT) broadcasts. The next milestone year (2015) was established by the ITU and a number of countries in Eastern Europe and Middle-East Africa are hoping to satisfy this goal. With a later start to digital services a number of countries in these regions are starting with DVB-T2, avoiding the conundrum facing established DVB-T markets looking to migrate to the newer technology.

The 2013 edition of ITU’s flagship regulatory report ‘Trends in Telecommunication Reform’, released today, highlights the increasingly global nature of information and communication technology (ICT) regulation and the crucial link between effective regulation of the ICT sector and the range, quality and affordability of ICT services available to consumers and business users alike.

Companies like Netflix, Hulu, Apple, and Amazon helped drive the over-the-top (OTT) video market past $8 billion in 2012. The three largest markets—North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific—experienced YoY growth in excess of 50% in 2012. The continued spread of connected CE and increasingly mobile devices, like tablets, are expected to push the market past $20 billion by 2015, according to ABI Research.

Consumers are increasingly taking control of their entertainment experience, multitasking while watching television, integrating second screen devices into their viewing experience, and viewing more Internet-based content, according to a new survey released today at the NAB show in Las Vegas by Accenture.

Cloud-based TV service revenues will increase from US$120 million in 2013 to more than US$750 milion by 2017, according to a new study by Multimedia Research Group (MRG). Garnering the lion's share of those revenues will be cloud services for cable operators, followed by satellite and then IPTV.

Cloud service isn’t a flashy new trend; it’s a steady migration away from legacy hardware and software services. Although not every pay-TV operator is likely to decide to scrap an entire legacy infrastructure or platform for the cloud, any operator can benefit today.

New Technologies and Solutions Will Drive Strong Growth and Increase Competition

At Satellite 2013 in Washington, D.C., Satellite Markets and Research Editor-in-Chief Virgil Labrador spoke with Steve Collar, CEO, O3B Networks who provided an update on their upcoming launch of their new satellites in the second half of 2013 and their future prospects.