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OTT Video and New Rules of Home Entertainment

Over-the-top (OTT) video services are gaining momentum, enabled by new devices entering the digital home. Over 53 million U.S. broadband households currently view TV programs over the Internet, according to the latest market study by In-Stat.

A growing 85 percent of these users already view online TV content on multiple devices -- including personal computers, TVs, and mobile handsets. By 2014, there will be over 200 million web-enabled wireline Consumer Electronic (CE) devices in operation in the U.S. market.

When PCs and mobile devices are added in, the average U.S. consumer will own between 5-10 web-enabled devices to choose from for viewing Internet-based digital entertainment.


"Today, content is consumed in a myriad of ways over a plethora of devices," says Keith Nissen, Principal Analyst at In-Stat.

The relationship between the user, the content they view, and the device they watch it on, has become complex. Traditional viewing habits no longer apply and, as a result, a new and amorphous set of rules have taken over.

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