Advanced Television

Research: Viewers evolving along with their TV sets

July 13, 2022

Hub Entertainment Research’s fourth annual Evolution of the TV Set study shows how the biggest screen in the home is evolving, affecting not just viewer habits and expectations but the business plans of content providers and advertisers.

Streaming, voice control, and non-viewing uses of TV sets are top ways to show how sets – and viewers – are evolving.

Study highlights include:

Streaming: The speed with which consumers are turning to streaming using smart TVs continues to impress.

Almost two thirds (62 per cent) of TV homes report streaming using a smart TV, compared with less than half (47 per cent) two years ago. This rapid increase is driven by increases in both smart TV homes and in the share of those homes using smart TVs to stream.

Voice control: Half (51 per cent) of the most-used sets in US homes have a remote control with voice command capability – up notably since 2020 (38 per cent).

In homes with a smart TV, one in three (33 per cent) linked a smart TV to a smart speaker such as Amazon’s Echo or Google’s Nest, enabling voice control – up a third from 2020 (25 per cent).

Non-viewing use of sets: Smart TVs are used for more than viewing TV programmes or movies. In smart TV homes, 7 in 10 (73 per cent) say they use a set for something else – up from six in 10 (63 per cent) in 2020.

The most popular non-TV activities on smart TVs are streaming music, mirroring or casting another screen to the set, checking news or weather apps, or using an on-set browser.

“Streaming on smart TV sets has grabbed the spotlight, but don’t forget other ways TVs have evolved,” said David Tice, senior consultant to Hub and co-author of the study. “With the TV itself becoming an advertising platform, changes in user behaviors from set evolution can impact marketing opportunities, exposure, and effectiveness.”

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