Research: Smart TVs becoming home entertainment hub
July 25, 2023
According to the fifth annual edition of Hub Entertainment Research’s Evolution of the TV Set study, US viewers’ habits are evolving along with the TV sets they use to watch. Not only are more consumers using the built-in connectivity of smart TVs to watch video, but half of smart TV owners say they use their set for streaming music or other audio content.
Smart TVs are the home base for viewing: Being “smart” is now the standard for virtually all TV sets, and so ownership of smart TVs continues to climb: three quarters (74 per cent) of TV homes now report owning a smart TV, up from 61 per cent in 2020.
About two thirds (64 per cent) of all TV homes report using a smart TV to stream video, compared with fewer than half (47 per cent) in 2020.
The dual increase in ownership and usage for viewing is a clear signal smart TVs are gaining traction, and gradually replacing separate streaming devices such as Roku or Fire TV sticks or boxes.
Voice command is taking control: Half of respondents (52 per cent) say the TV set they use most often has a remote control with voice command capability, up from only 38 per cent in 2020.
And in homes with a smart TV, a third (30 per cent) of respondents have linked their smart TV to a smart speaker to enable voice control – up from 25 per cent in 2020.
Smart TVs are becoming the hub of home entertainment: One “smart” thing about smart TVs is they can be used to do other things besides watch TV. This year, three in four smart TV owners (77 per cent) say they use their set for more than just watching TV or movies (up from six in 10 [63 per cent] in 2020.
The most popular non-TV feature on smart TVs is streaming music or other audio content: 49 per cent say they have used their smart TV for this, almost doubling since 2020.
The second most used feature is casting or mirroring another device’s screen on the smart TV. Over a third (38 per cent) of smart TV owners said they have done this in 2023 – almost tripling since our 2020 wave.
“The evolution of the TV set is making valuable new features available to viewers, whether it be better quality picture and sound, streaming, apps, or voice control,” notes David Tice, senior consultant to Hub and co-author of the study. “This also means challenges to incumbent firms in the TV ecosystem as alternative content providers, advertising sellers, and gatekeepers dramatically increase their presence through the growth of smart TVs.”