Research: 70% US homes own streaming device
January 7, 2022
Findings contained in a whitepaper from analyst firm Parks Associates reveal that nearly 70 per cent of US broadband households own at least one streaming video product that is connected to the Internet.
Ownership of smart TVs and streaming media players continues to rise, and gaming console ownership has held steady after several years of losses. Consumers have fully embraced streaming services, with more than 80 per cent of broadband households having at least one service and 49 per cent having four or more services, according to the whitepaper, Reaching Today’s Video Audiences: Platform Diversity and ROI, developed in partnership with digital video technologist Bitmovin.
“The streaming video market has experienced increased service usage, and consumers are watching streamed video content on multiple devices in the home and increasingly from multiple services,” notes Paul Erickson, Director, Research, Parks Associates. “The role of streaming video across multiple platforms is more important than ever before in the entertainment mix for consumers.”
Fifty-six per cent of US broadband households now own a smart TV. More than half of those households are now using the smart TV as the device they access most frequently to watch streaming video. The increase in connected TV devices and viewership in turn has driven growth in the average number of hours per week of video consumed.
“The video developer community is seeing similar growth in their applications targeting multiple platforms, as OTT services support 10 per cent more devices than they did last year,” said James Varndell, Senior Product Manager for Bitmovin Player. “Given how many different platforms providers must support to reach their diverse global audience, developers need to consider all of the factors to launch on a new device, such as development costs, ongoing testing and support, error reduction, and more.”
Seventy-two per cent of broadband households are engaging in multiplatform streaming video viewing, and 40 per cent are viewing on all platforms available to them. “Consumer adoption of multiple streaming video services may slow, but their comfort with streaming content will persist – the connected home is now permanently a multiplatform environment,” predicts Erickson.