A survey of consumers over the past year in Europe and the US, by S&P Global Market Intelligence, has revealed that the vast majority of Internet households view online video on their in-home TVs. Yet, the devices consumers prefer to use to deliver online video content to the TV varies substantially in Europe and the US.

Key highlights:

• In Europe, consumer preferences vary naturally across different states. For example, the surveys found that the majority of consumers (56 per cent) in Poland stream online video from their PC to their TV set, while only 29 per cent use a PC to TV connection in the UK.
• A smart TV featuring direct Internet connectivity is another popular way of watching OTT video on the TV. Poland also leads the way with 37 per cent of internet households reporting they use their smart TV to watch online video, compared to only 18 per cent in France.
• A much smaller percentage of consumers in Europe use a gaming console, Blu-ray player or SMP to deliver online content to the TV. The use of service provider-specific STBs is prevalent in the UK. (31 per cent), but almost non-existent in Poland (6 per cent).
• In the US, consumers tend to use a wide variety of internet-connectible devices for watching online video on the TV.
• In 2017, US Internet households are equally likely to be using a smart TV, Blu-ray player, SMP or a pay-TV STB to watch online video on the TV. Over the past two years, the data shows substantial growth in the use of smart TVs, Blu-ray players and SMPs.
• An important difference between US Internet households and those in Europe is that the US averages between two and three TVs per household, whereas few households in Europe have more than one TV

Categories: Articles, Connected TV, Consumer Behaviour, Equipment, OTT, PVR, Research, STB