New consumer research from Leichtman Research Group found that 24% of all households have a television connected to the Internet. These connections vary from connecting through a video game system, a Blu-Ray player, or the TV set itself. While Internet connectivity has become a common built-in feature in many products, consumers are just beginning to use this feature to watch video from the Internet.
Overall, just 1% of all adults watch video from the Internet via one of these devices daily, and 5% weekly. And usage is heavily skewed to young men, with 16% of men ages 18-34 watching video from the Internet via one of these connected devices weekly, compared to 3% weekly use among all others.
Other findings include:
Despite speculation that consumers are "cutting the cord" to cable, satellite or Telco video services and choosing to watch video exclusively online or through other alternatives, there remains little evidence of this being a trend. Emerging video services do not necessarily create either/or scenarios in decisions to subscribe to a video service or not. Rather, they create opportunities and trade-offs in how, when, what, and where to consume the increasing video entertainment options.
And, Broadband service continued to grow, according to the Leichtman Research Group. The nineteen largest cable and telephone providers in the US, representing about 93% of the market, acquired nearly 4.1 million net additional high-speed Internet subscribers in 2009.
The top broadband providers now account for nearly 71.8 million subscribers, with cable companies having 39.3 million broadband subscribers, and telephone companies having 32.5 million subscribers.
Other key findings include:
Top 10 Cable MSOs in the U.S. (as of the end of 4Q 2009) | ||||||
| Passings | Subscribers | Availability | Penetration | Net Adds in 2009 | Net Adds in 2008 |
Basic Cable | 116,600,000 | 55,700,000 |
| 47.8% | (1,280,000) | (875,000) |
Digital Cable |
| 40,400,000 |
| 72.5% | 2,225,000 | 3,070,000 |
Broadband Internet | 115,375,000 | 38,950,000 | 99% | 33.8% | 2,330,000 | 3,200,000 |
Telephone | 105,000,000 | 19,425,000 | 96% | 18.5% | 2,335,000 | 3,940,000 |
Sources: The Companies and Leichtman Research Group, Inc Totals include LRG estimates and pro forma results from system sales and acquisitions. |
DBS | |||||
| Subscribers | Net Adds in 2009 | Gross Adds in 2009 | Subscriber Acquisition Cost | Average Revenue Per Sub/Month |
DIRECTV | 18,560,000 | 939,000 | 4,273,000 | $712 | $85.48 |
Dish Network | 14,100,000 | 422,000 | 3,118,000 | $697 | $70.04 |
Total DBS | 32,660,000 | 1,361,000 | 7,391,000 |
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Sources: The Companies and Leichtman Research Group, Inc. |
Telco Video | |||
| Subscribers | Net Adds in 2009 | Net Adds in 2008 |
Verizon FiOS | 2,861,000 | 943,000 | 975,000 |
AT&T U-verse | 2,065,000 | 1,020,000 | 814,000 |
Total | 4,926,000 | 1,963,000 | 1,789,000 |
Sources: The Companies and Leichtman Research Group, Inc. |
These findings are based on a survey of 1,250 households throughout the United States, and are part of a new LRG study, Emerging Video Services IV.