• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, April 10, 2023

Three-quarters (77%) of U.S. households now own smart TVs — up from 66% in 2020 and 70% in 2021, according to the latest connected home study by Hub Entertainment Research. 

Nearly two thirds (61%) of all TVs are smart TVs — up from 45% in 2020. 

With 1.7 smart TVs per home, on average, and 120 million TV homes, Hub estimates that Americans now own about 204 million of the sets. 

And while not all smart TVs are connected to the internet and used for streaming, 88% of homes with smart sets report that they do regularly use them to stream content. That’s up from 75% in 2020 and 81% in 2021. 

Six in 10 smart TV homes stream on the devices at least weekly — up from 50% in 2021. 

Strong increases in smart TV ownership, along with more frequent use, is “impacting the CTV ‘4Ds’: discovery, decision, delivery and data,” notes the report. 

In addition, more than half of TV households now report having a 4K-capable set (4K, UHD or 8K), and two in three 4K set owners report watching content in 4K (up from half in 2019). Increased viewership will begin to drive differentiation of content based on 4K availability. 

One in 20 claim to own an 8K set, and one in nine say they are “very likely” to buy an 8K set this year. 

Half of TV households have at least one remote with voice control — up from a third in 2019. Four in 10 with a voice remote say they use it “all the time” or “often,” about the same as in previous waves of the study. Voice remotes add another layer to the discovery and decision processes. 

Meanwhile, after a period of rapid adoption, ownership of smart speakers appears to have plateaued at just over half of households — showing essentially the same pattern as tablets. This could lead to de-linking of smart home devices from smart speakers. 

Another smart-home trend: Awareness of the term “5G” is nearly universal, despite some confusion about its benefits. Awareness has been at at least 85% in six of the past seven quarterly survey waves. Half of consumers are “very interested” in 5G phone service, and four in 10 are very interested in 5G home internet service — levels similar to last year’s.

Hub interviewed 5,026 U.S. consumers in February 2023. Respondents were between 16 and 74, and were weighted to census data including age, gender, ethnicity, income and household size.