Commentary

Web Connected TVs Bringing Internet Delivered Video Direct

by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer, June 12, 2015

According to new consumer research from Leichtman Research Group (LRG), 56% of all US households have at least one television set connected to the Internet via a video game system, a smart TV set, a Blu-ray player, and/or a stand-alone device (like Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, or Amazon Fire TV), up from 44% in 2013, and 24% in 2010.

While 27% of all households have a TV set connected via one device, 29% of households are now connected via multiple devices, up from 17% in 2013. Along with the increase in connected TV households and devices, there has also been an increase in watching Internet-delivered video on the TV set.

Overall, 29% of adults watch Internet-delivered video via a connected TV at least weekly, compared to 17% in 2013, and 5% in 2010. In addition, among Netflix streaming video users, 85% say that they watch Netflix on a TV set, a slightly higher level than in any previous year, says the report.

Internet Connected TV Penetration (% of US HH with at least one TV set connected to the Internet; % of adult viewers of Internet delivered video at least weekly)
*Year*	*% of HH With Connected TV*	*% Adults Viewing Digital TV on Connected TV*
2010	24%	5%
2011	30	10
2012	38	13
2013	44	17
2014	49	24
Source: LRG Group, June 2015

Additional related findings from the study include:

52% of households get a subscription video on-Demand (SVOD) service from Netflix, Amazon Prime, and/or Hulu Plus
43% of adults stream an SVOD service at least monthly
43% of pay-TV subscribers get Netflix, vs. 50% of all pay-TV non-subscribers
19% of Netflix subscribers share their Netflix subscription with others outside their household
33% of adults watch video on non-TV devices daily (home computers, mobile phones, iPads, tablets, and eReaders), and 58% weekly
10% of adults are very interested in HBO Now at $14.99 per month without having to subscribe to a pay-TV service

Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, says “… one-third of adults now watch video on non-TV devices daily… yet… Internet-delivered video… watched on the TV… exemplifies the desire to watch longer-form video on the best available screen… "

Emerging Video Services IX is based on a telephone survey of 1,215 adults age 18+ throughout the continental US, conducted in April 2015. Weighted to best reflect the demographic and geographic make-up of the US, the overall sample has a statistical margin of error of +/- 2.8%.

For more from LRG research, please visit here.

connected tv, internet, research

2 comments about "Web Connected TVs Bringing Internet Delivered Video Direct".

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Henry Blaufox from Dragon360, June 12, 2015 at 8:33 a.m.
This means enough scale is being accumulated in terms of audience size and diversity to apply data collection and analytics technology to the TV audience. Programmatic may arrive to TV faster than many thought likely.
Reply

Ed Papazian from Media Dynamics Inc, June 12, 2015 at 10:22 a.m.

If one accepts the figures in the table, above, it is, indeed, clear that those with connected sets are using them more often. For example, in 2010, 24% had such a set but only 5% used it at least once a week. By 2014, this margin had narrowed considerably. Now, we see that 49% had a connected set and about half of them used it to some degree in a week.

That said, I doubt that the actual amount of connected set usage is close to attaining critical mass---at least not to the point where we can expect individual content ratings, fine demographic breakdowns, product usage interfaces, etc. Nor do I believe that connected TVs, will spur "linear TV" into adopting "programmatic" buying and selling as this has been described for digital---with all major sellers placing the vast bulk of their audience inventory up for sale to advertiser "trading desks". That will only hapen when, and if, both buyers and sellers are convinced that real time automated transactions, not "computer-assisted buys" will benefit them.