Analyst: U.S. Olympic Trials, NBA Finals Drive 63% Increase in Multichannel Distributor App Downloads In June

According to new research from Evercore ISI, virtual MVPD (multichannel video programming distributor) app downloads were up 63% in June. Evercore media analyst Vijay Jayant believes that sports are driving virtual MVPD app downloads.

“Virtual MVPD app download trends improved vs. the prior few months likely driven by the strong sports calendar and lead into the Olympics,” Jayant said in the report.

It’s a busy time for sports in the United States, and if you’re a fan, you’ve likely been tuning in to watch the NBA Playoffs or the U.S. Olympic Trials. Throughout June, sports fans also enjoyed watching Major League Baseball, the NCAA College World Series, and the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament. Sports coverage attracted fans and drew strong ratings last month.

According to a new survey, nearly half of consumers have cut the cord, giving many viewers the opportunity to use a virtual MVPD, such as YouTube TV or FuboTV.

Jayant wrote, “Similar to trends in prior months, YouTube continues to dominate in terms of vMVPD download market share followed by fuboTV, SlingTV, and AT&T TV.”

The overall vMVPD download share is as follows:

YouTube TV (44%)
fuboTV (33%)
Sling TV (18%)
AT&T TV (9%)

According to Jayant, due to FuboTV’s sports-heavy content, the company saw a 312% year-over-year gain. Just in time for the NBA Finals featuring the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns, FuboTV expanded with 17 new ABC affiliates.

It looks like app downloads that offer sports content could continue to see increased downloads as the 2020 Olympics kick off on July 23 and run through August 8. NBCUniversal will feature 7,000 hours of Olympic coverage.

When it comes to SVOD (subscription video on demand) services, a few apps saw major increases, including Showtime (up 132%), Disney+ (up 114%), and HBO Max (up 63%). Hulu was up 4% and Amazon Prime Video was up 1%, while Netflix was down 25%.

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Cannot be combined with any other promotion and won’t be eligible if you try to use a coupon code or cash back from another site.

Analyst: U.S. Olympic Trials, NBA Finals Drive 63% Increase in Multichannel Distributor App Downloads In June

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