HBO is likely to lure 17 percent of U.S. broadband households to their streaming video service, with half of them then ditching their pay-TV subscription, according to new research from Parks Associates.

The average head of a U.S. broadband household now watched 3.5 hours of over-the-top (OTT) video, which are video services delivered over the top of existing broadband networks, on a television set each week, the firm said.

“2015 is set to be the year of OTT,” said Brett Sappington, director, research, Parks Associates. “This shift to the use of OTT on the TV screen will impact the entire ecosystem, including pay-TV providers, broadcasters, cable networks, and advertisers. Everyone will have to adjust to a new way of doing business.”

HBO says it will launch its long-awaited standalone OTT service later this year, which unbundles the premium-cable network from the cable bundle for the first time.

Until now, only HBO subscribers had access to HBO Go, prompting scores of college students, broke Millennials, and others without cable to beg friends, parents, and neighbors to share their passwords.

HBO is just one of several content providers, including CBS and Dish, to announce robust OTT plans as streaming continues to cut into live television audience numbers.

Television is not dying, but it is evolving,” said Glenn Hower, research analyst at Parks Associates. “The age of appointment television is coming to a close, and programming will need to adapt to an on-demand environment.”

Read more: Parks Associates

Brief Take: Incoming OTT services, including HBO Go and Sling TV, are threatening the cable bundle, making industry watchers wonder who will be left standing in five years.

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