• by Daisy Whitney , Op-Ed Contributor, July 29, 2014

But will consumers actually plug them in? Connection rates have long bedeviled the industry; many consumers own Internet-capable TVs but don’t actually connect them. However, as awareness and purchases rise, so will installs. Today about 60% of Internet-capable TVs are connected, and by 2017 that number will rise to 76%. NPD says hardware updates, more sophisticated devices, and more awareness will drive consumers to connect their devices so that they can receive TV via the Internet from TV networks.

Growth will slow down by 2018 when the connected TV market begins to reach a saturation point, NPD says. With average homeowners in possession of three TVs, NPD says those households that want apps and Internet-capable TVs will have connected them by then.

Given these projections, NPD recommends that programmers and manufacturers “establish customer loyalty” now, during this phase of rapid adoption.

Pay-TV providers face tougher challenges, according to new research from TNS. The firm said in its quarterly research report that video streaming is impacting traditional TV and consumer loyalty. While about 55% of homes only watch pay TV, that number is declining. About one third of consumers in the study said they’d streamed video in the past month, while 26% watch pay TV and stream, and about 8% only watch streaming video.

TNS said the allure of streaming technology should be taken seriously because it’s resulting in reduced customer loyalty and weakened brand affiliations. As such, pay-TV providers would be wise to market TV Everywhere. Most consumers have access to TV Everywhere, but studies have shown that few know about the service.