Disentangling the effects on OTT platform performance of three strategies: Pricing, M&As, and content investments.

OTT streaming services have been restructuring the global multimedia industry, and there have been strategic actions and reactions among OTT players and traditional pay-TV platforms. This study found that Pricing and Content investments are key factors affecting market share and subscribership in global OTT markets, and M&As have positive effects on the two performance measures, although with less statistical confidence. OTT-specialized firms in the UK, Germany, France, Japan, and South Korea did not expand subscribers to the same extent as those in the US, but they were able to expand their market share in the UK and Germany while failing to increase it in the other three countries. Local OTT players, especially those in Europe and Asia, might need to be more strategic in coping with US-based firms' expansion by materializing the positive interaction effects among the three strategies to increase both their subscriber base and market share. • This paper analyzes the effects of three strategies on OTT platform performance: Pricing, M&As, and Content investments. • Pricing and Content investments are key factors affecting market share and subscribership in global OTT markets. • OTT-specialized firms not in the US did not expand subscribers to the same extent as those in the US. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]