Advanced Television

69% US households have a connected TV

April 28, 2017

Findings from analysis firm Leichtman Research Group (LRG) indicate that 69 per cent of US TV households have at least one television set connected to the Internet via a smart TV set, a stand-alone device (such as Roku, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV stick or set-top box, or Apple TV), a video game system, and/or a Blu-ray player – up from 50 per cent in 2014, and 24 per cent in 2010.

Overall, there are more connected TV devices in US households than there are pay-TV set-top boxes. Among those with any connected TV devices, 76 per cent have more than one device, with a mean of 3.5 per connected TV household. Across all households (including those that do not have any of these), the mean number of connected TV devices per household is 2.4, while the mean number of pay-TV set-top boxes per household is 1.7.

These findings are based on a survey of 1,204 TV households throughout the US, and are part of a new LRG study, Connected and HD TVs XIV, LRG’s fourteenth annual study on TVs in the US.

Other findings include:

  • Overall, 25 per cent of adults in US TV households watch video via a connected TV device daily – compared to 11 per cent in 2014, and 1 per cent in 2010.
  • 43 per cent of all ages 18-34 watch video via a connected TV device daily – compared to 26 per cent of ages 35-54 and 10 per cent of ages 55+
  • 22 per cent of adults with a pay-TV service watch video via a connected TV device daily -compared to 38 per cent of pay-TV non-subscribers
  • 79 per cent of all TV sets in US households are HDTVs – an increase from 59 per cent in 2014, and 11 per cent in 2007
  • 38 per cent of non-4K Ultra HDTV owners have seen one in use – up from 10 per cent in 2014
  • 31 per cent of those who have seen a 4K HDTV in use are interested in getting one – compared to 7 per cent of those who have not seen a 4K HDTV

“Connected TV devices continue to expand both in terms of the percentage of US households that have connected TV devices and the frequency that people are using them,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group. “Yet, with 81 per cent of connected TV households also getting a pay-TV service, choices provided by connected TVs are generally being integrated with traditional viewing options.”

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