Advanced Television

38% US household TVs Internet-connected

April 10, 2012

Findings from Leichtman Research Group (LRG) indicate that 38 per cent of all households have at least one television set connected to the Internet via a video game system, a Blu-ray player, an Apple TV or Roku set-top box, and/or the TV set itself — up from 30 per cent last year, and 24 per cent two years ago. Video game systems are the key connected devices, as 28 per cent of all households have a video game system connected to the Internet. Just four per cent of all households are connected solely via an Internet-enabled TV set, and Apple TV or Roku set-tops are the only connected devices in 1 per cent of all households.

Overall, 13 per cent of all adults watch video from the Internet via a connected device at least weekly, compared to 10 per cent last year, and 5 per cent two years ago. Use of connected devices remains skewed towards Netflix subscribers, with 35 per cent of Netflix subscribers watching video from the Internet via a connected device weekly, compared to 5 per cent weekly use among all non-Netflix subscribers.

Other findings include:

  • Overall, 16 per cent of all adults use Netflix’s Watch Instantly feature weekly — compared to 12 per cent last year, and 4 per cent two years ago
  • 79 per cent of Netflix Watch Instantly customers use it to watch movies and television shows on a TV set, and 59 per cent of this group access Netflix via a video game system
  • 50 per cent of Netflix subscribers are satisfied with the service, and 11 per cent are likely to stop subscribing to Netflix in the next six months
  • 7 per cent of Netflix subscribers are likely to switch from their multi-channel video provider in the next six months — compared to 12 per cent of non-Netflix subscribers
  • 13 per cent of Netflix subscribers would consider reducing spending on their multi-channel video service because of Netflix — compared to 21 per cent last year
  • 16 per cent of all adults watch full length TV shows online at least weekly — compared to 12 per cent last year, and 10 per cent three years ago
  • Among all mobile phone owners, 19 per cent watch video on their phones weekly — compared to 15 per cent last year, and 6 per cent three years ago
  • 9 per cent of all adults watch video on an iPad/tablet computer weekly — compared to 2 per cent last year

Overall, 1.6 per cent of households in the sample paid to subscribe to a multi-channel video service in the past year and do not currently subscribe. Yet, just 0.1 per cent of the sample dropped service in the past year, do not plan to subscribe again in the next six months, and say that they don’t subscribe because of Netflix or because they can watch all that they want on the Internet or in other ways

“Video is increasingly being watched on different platforms and in different places, yet these emerging video services still generally act as complements to traditional television viewing and services rather than as substitutes,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc. “Among all adults, reported time spent watching TV is similar to last year, and there remains little evidence of a significant trend in consumers ‘cutting the cord’ to their multi-channel video services to watch video solely via these emerging services.”

Categories: Articles, Connected TV, Consumer Behaviour, OTT, Research