Interesting article here on the evolution of streaming services and it includes the argument I have been making for some time that as many OTT services as possible should be capable of being accessed from one box.
It also addresses the difficulty some people have of finding the right content for them to watch.
http://www.csimagazine.com/csi/Strea...xt-chapter.php
EXTRACT
The explosive growth in TV choices has seemingly escalated consumer frustration. A Hub Entertainment Research survey of US consumers last July found consumers hungry for consolidation: looking for fewer platforms — even a single platform — that will deliver their full array of content in one place.
“The opportunity is for pay TV operators to take advantage of this ‘cord confusion’ by providing a single platform that will build loyalty among existing subscribers, bring in new consumers and even win back lapsed customers,” suggests Mark Evensen, CTO at Amino.
The research indicates the time is right: among respondents, more than twice as many would rather access all their TV and video content from a single provider (69%) than through a range of sources (31%) “making it crystal clear that consumers long for simplicity when it comes to choosing and managing their entertainment choices,” says Evensen.
Laurent Maillot, marketing manager for pay-TV operator Orange agrees: “Consumers are looking for some flexibility. They prefer to have premium content from different providers but only one stop shopping. They don’t want multiple accounts.”
He adds: “We are convinced that the next phase of pay-TV strategy globally is about aggregated SVOD.”
So if Virgin get on board with this quickly (and they got on board with Netflix and StarzPlay in a timely fashion - not the case with Amazon) then this could help them win customers from Sky. That assumes, of course, that Sky haven't got such a plan already!