Exclusive Content: Unstoppable Advantage of TV Everywhere
While over-the-top (OTT) video services are gaining momentum, cable companies are continuing to improve their TV Everywhere (TVE) offerings and increase their subscriber base.Comcast, for example, recently revealed that more than 30 percent of its Xfinity TV customers are now using its authenticated TV Everywhere app to watch shows, representing about 20 percent year-over-year growth. What’s more, the average viewer consumed more than seven hours per month on Xfinity TV Go, up nearly 40 percent from the same time last year.
Let’s face it; TVE has had a slow start. However, it has one unstoppable advantage over OTT services—exclusive content. While Netflix and Hulu have tried to differentiate themselves from their cable company counterparts by launching their own original content, that content doesn’t compare to the live programming and deep catalog of on-demand shows cable companies offer.
Whereas OTT viewers have to wait to see if their favorite shows end up on Hulu, Netflix or Amazon, TVE users can stream the most popular live programming channels—including sports and news— on their mobile device of choice, wherever, whenever they want.
The bottom line is: Cord cutters can watch all the “House of Cards” they want, but they still won’t be getting front row access to popular shows like “Walking Dead,” “Scandal,” and “American Horror Story.” Also, OTT viewers don’t have the ability to watch exciting live events like the Super Bowl and the Oscars, which aren’t nearly as fun to watch the next morning when you already know who won.
Until OTT providers can give viewers the exclusive content they crave, cable companies will continue to reign supreme.