United States OTT Market Size

US Over-the-Top (OTT) Market Analysis

The United States OTT Market size is estimated at USD 56.61 billion in 2024, and is expected to reach USD 102.28 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 12.56% during the forecast period (2024-2029).

The United States is one of the largest OTT markets in the world. The high penetration of smart devices, like smart TV and smartphone, growing demand for VOD content, and a high rate of per-user payment are some of the major factors driving the country's OTT market. Also, most of the top global OTT vendors, like Netflix and Amazon, are US-based, providing an advantage to the regional market.

• The increasing gravitation toward OTT content frees US citizens from cables, geographic restrictions, and broadcast schedules and fundamentally changes how video is sold, produced, and consumed. Thus, increasing adoption has been attributable to narrow genre choices, package flexibility, wider device availability, internet penetration, and lower costs. Netflix and Amazon are the most commonly subscribed OTT platforms in the country.
• With increasing revenue numbers, the surging percentage of viewing time going to OTT video content reflects the streaming growth and is changing the country's entertainment landscape. According to the Arizona-based Limelight Networks, viewers spend an average of 6.8 hours per week consuming OTT video globally, with the United States topping the national average at 8.55 hours.
• COVID-19 increased viewership numbers and streaming hours, and the lack of new movies in theatres also boosts OTT platforms. The rising use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) on smart devices for gaming apps to provide users with a real-time experience while playing a game is projected to increase demand for OTT services post-pandemic. Furthermore, fast expansion in the next generation of cellular network services, such as 5G technology, is expected to drive the country's over-the-top (OTT) industry. According to OpenSignal, In the United States, those with 5G-capable cellphones spent 25.2% connecting to a 5G network in the last year.
• However, some costs for OTT providers also rise along with increased consumption, with services impacted by varying degrees depending on the content delivery network model employed. As the OTT viewing amount increases, so does the OTT provider's delivery cost since CDN services are usually charged for the content delivered.
• Major market players are offering cheaper subscription plans to attract more customers. For instance, in July last year, Netflix partnered with Microsoft, a global technology corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington. With this collaboration, the firms planned to develop a new ad-supported service with a lower-cost subscription plan to attract new users. Moreover, in May last year, Hulu and Xbox announced a collaboration to provide existing Hulu members in the United States with three free months of PC Game Pass.