Study: Over-the-Top Services Need Broadcast Nets

According to the boutique equity analysis firm of MoffettNathanson Research, the best hope of the new breed of over-the-top TV services is for them to include the broadcast networks, which reach seven times more viewers than the average cable network and two times more than the most popular cable networks. According to the research, the prospects for the services like Sling TV, Sony PlayStation Vue and Apple TV depend on their ability to include broadcast signals.

The absence of broadcast signals on the Dish service limits its potential, the research says. "We don't believe the service offers enough to attract a sizable customer base." The Sony service will also have trouble "attracting a meaningful number of subscribers" without ABC and the other Disney-owned networks, it says. However, the research says, Apple TV could make it if it is able to combine the CBS, ABC and Fox broadcast networks along with the cable networks of 21st Century Fox, Disney, Discovery and Viacom. "In 2014, the average big four broadcast network reached 41 percent of U.S. people ages 2+ each week -- more than seven times average reach of an average cable network," the research says. While the broadcast networks were clustered around the their average weekly reach, there was a wide disparity in the reach of the cable networks.