Pay-TV operators can no longer simply rely on the strength of their content offering to maintain subscriber loyalty but must raise their customer relationship management game to gain ground in an increasingly competitive marketplace, new global research from subscription, billing and CRM specialist Paywizard shows.

According to new research from The Diffusion Group (TDG), the penetration of Internet-connected TVs among US broadband households has increased nearly 50% since 2013, from 50% to 74% at year-end 2016.

Service providers are decreasing marketing on their cable, satellite, and IPTV products that offer managed quality of service in favor of new products that use over the top (OTT) technologies to compete with Amazon and Netflix. With OTT competition significantly increasing in mature pay-TV markets, ABI Research forecasts that live linear OTT video services will grow to approximately $7 billion dollars of worldwide revenue by 2021, from a little more than $1 billion in 2016.

New cord-cutter consumer research from Parks Associates shows the percentage of U.S. broadband households that use only antennas to receive TV has steadily increased since 2013 to reach 15%. 360 View: Entertainment Services in U.S. Broadband Households reveals this increase coincides with a drop in pay-TV subscriptions and an increase in Internet-only video subscriptions.

NSR’s High-Altitude Platforms (HAPs)  report, released today, highlights opportunities for growth via current and new airships, balloons, and pseudo-satellites will reach over $2B in cumulative revenue over the next decade. NSR’s industry-first HAPS report forecasts a 44% increase in HAPs units and an 85% increase in associated revenue over the coming ten years.

The World Teleport Association (WTA) today published its annual rankings for the Top Teleport Operators of 2016. The annual rankings of companies by revenue and revenue growth are compiled by surveying teleport operators around the world as well as referencing the published results of publicly-held companies.

New data from Juniper Research has found that the number of connected IoT (Internet of Things) devices, sensors and actuators will reach over 46 billion in 2021. This 200% increase, from 2016, will be driven in large part by a reduction in the unit costs of hardware. Juniper forecasts that it will average close to the ‘magic’ $1 throughout the period.

NSR’s newly released Land-Mobile via Satellite, 4th Edition (LMvS4) report projects cumulative revenue will top $18.1 billion during the 2015-2025 period.  The market is highly dependent on new products and timely launch of higher bandwidth satellites, which leverage increased bandwidth demand brought about by use of personal electronic devices in the field.

The number of SVOD [subscription video on demand] homes is forecast to reach 428 million across 200 countries by 2021, up from 177 million in 2015 and an expected 248 million by end-2016. The total will grow by 70 million in 2016 alone, according to the Global SVOD Forecasts report.

NSR’s VSAT and Broadband Satellite Markets 15th Edition report, released today, forecasts the global installed base for fixed VSATs to increase by 12.2 million by 2025, generating over $133.7 billion in cumulative Service Revenues over the 2015-25 period.  Despite near term challenges, insatiable data demand and HTS capacity will ignite long term growth.