The impact of over-the-top television services on pay-television subscription services in South Africa

Abstract

Globally, developments and innovations in television technology, including the launch and growth of over-the-top television services (OTT TV), have a ected traditional pay-TV operators’ ability to grow a subscriber base and retain existing customers. Despite attempts made by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) to ascertain the impact of the OTT TV on pay-TV services, the results have remained inconclusive. In the absence of a comprehensive assessment and credible evidence, this paper sought to ascertain the impact that OTT TV services have on traditional pay-TV services in South Africa. A quantitative research method was adopted using a non-probability sampling technique for data collection. A total of 391 responses were collected utilising an online survey questionnaire and analysed using descriptive statistics on IBM® SPSS® version 26. The main findings of the study showed that OTT TV services are a complementary service to pay-TV services as opposed to a substitute. Low-income earners are using free/paid mobile applications to consume TV content, and for those who have neither OTT TV nor pay-TV services, free-to-air services are the preferred platform for TV consumption. This study benefits all stakeholders in digital media and business strategy, as well as marketing students.