• by Wayne Friedman , July 17, 2012

New smart TV owners are experimenting more with accessing video via the Internet.

This year, 56% of smart TV set owners have accessed some video via a Net connection, according to media research firm Parks Associates. The number is up from 40% two years ago. Overall, Internet-connected video watching on big TV screens is up 30% in the last six months.

When it comes to premium video, viewing is evenly split between movies (30%) and TV (32%).

Parks Associates believes more activity will come because nearly one-half of HDTVs shipped in 2012 will be Internet-connectable. Pietro Macchiarella, research analyst at Parks Associates, stated: "This device, when connected, offers a toehold to a variety of players, including broadcasters, over-the-top video providers and pay-TV providers."

Parks says 71% watch online TV shows at least once a month. This figure is up from 51% a year ago. In addition, 75% of U.S. smart TV owners watch on-demand online movies at least monthly, versus 57% in 2011.

Previous research reports from other companies showed that smart TV owners were slow when it came to viewing video from Internet-connected platforms.