Young people are using their connected TVs to watch over-the-top TV more than they use them to watch programming from a multichannel video provider.
That’s the finding of a new study from NPD Group’s Connected Intelligence. The research firm found that 75% of 18- to 34-year-olds with connected TV sets or
devices watch video over the Internet on those devices. About 68% use those connected devices to watch programming from a cable, satellite or telco provider.
That’s an interesting
finding, because it suggests that over-the-top content is rising in overall appeal. A connected TV or device evens the playing field between multichannel provider-delivered video and over-the-top
video since both are easy to access on such a set. Younger consumers expect broadband experiences from their screens, NPD Connected Intelligence said.
Those with streaming media players are
the most likely to use the connected TV screen to watch over-the-top videos, with 81% doing so. About 77% of Blu-ray owners watch over-the-top videos, followed by 73% of connected video game console
owners, then by 66% of consumers who directly connect their TVs to the Web, the study said.
The numbers shift for the 35-to-54 age group, with that demo having a slight preference for watching
TV from a pay TV provider on their connected TVs.
Netflix is the most popular of the over-the-top services in the 18-to-34 crowd, followed by YouTube, Amazon Prime Video and then Hulu Plus.
NPD suggested that pay-TV providers might start offering Netflix as part of their services. That’s a possibility that some operators are said to be considering.
In the study, NPD
Connected Intelligence surveyed more than 5,000 US consumers online regarding their use of computers, smartphones, tablets and connected TVs.