By Jonathan Easton
Over three quarters of US households now own at least one internet-connected TV device, a new report has found.
According to Leichtman Research Group, 82 per cent of US TV households have at least one Internet-connected TV device, compared to 80 per cent in 2020, 74 per cent in 2019, 65 per cent in 2016, and 30 per cent in 2011. Products considered CTV devices include smart TVs, stand-alone streaming devices like an Amazon Fire TV stick, internet-connected games consoles, and connected Blu-ray players.
But while CTV device ownership is up, viewership is slightly down from the stay-at-home 2020. Some 39 per cent of adults in US TV households watch video on a TV via a connected device daily. This is compared to 40 per cent in 2020, 31 per cent in 2019, 19 per cent in 2016, and 3 per cent in 2011.
Unsurprisingly, it is young people driving CTV adoption, with 54 per cent of Americans aged 18-34 watching video on a CTV device daily, compared to 43 per cent of 35-54 year-olds and 22 per cent of people aged over 55.
The report also found that 35 per cent of adults with a pay-TV service watch video via a connected TV device daily – compared to 50 per cent of pay-TV non-subscribers; and that 55 per cent of TV households have at least one stand-alone streaming device – up from 49 per cent in 2019, 33 per cent in 2016, and 3 per cent in 2011.
President and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Bruce Leichtman said: “Use of connected TV devices levelled off over the past year after being pulled forward due to the coronavirus pandemic last year. Still, 39 per cent of adults watch video on a TV via a connected device daily, and 60 per cent at least weekly. Over 80 per cent of TV households in the US now have at least one connected TV device, with a mean of 4.1 devices per connected TV household.”
