• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, August 29, 2023

U.S. connected TV hours watched reached 11.5 billion in May 2023 — up by nearly 2 billion, or 21%, from 9.6 billion in May 2022 — and the streaming audience grew to 73% of total households, from 69% in 2022, according to Comscore’s latest State of Streaming report.

Digital video hours watched on connected devices rose 20% year-over-year, with 81% of Wi-Fi households now streaming on CTV. 

Ad-supported services drove most of the growth. 

CTV households with one or more ad-supported video streaming services reached 83.7 million in May 2023, up 17%, from 71.4 million, in May 2021. CTV households with one or more ad-free services grew 9%, from 74.1 million to 81.1 million, in the same period. 

Reflecting the acceleration of free ad-supported services (FAST) and targeted programming, 75% of new viewing hours were generated by providers beyond the top six apps: Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video, Hulu, MAX/HBO Max and Disney+. 

Hispanic households increased their consumption of FAST content by 81% during the past year.

“While the top US streaming services are keeping up with the demand for subscriptions, new growth can be observed in FAST streaming platforms like Roku, Pluto and Tubi, which are increasingly consolidating their position in the household mix,” sums up James Muldrow, vice president, product management, Comscore.

Among CTV households, fully 60% have either dropped traditional cable/satellite pay- TV services or never subscribed to them — up from just 37% in May 2019.

However, Muldrow notes that three cable/satellite streaming providers are included in the top 10 video services (MVPD streaming) for hours viewed per household, and says this highlights “the success of these providers in offering advertisers consistently engaged streaming audiences.”

Smart TVs are the dominant force for CTV streaming. Total households that stream content via smart TVs increased 23% from May 2021, while consumption on gaming consoles increased by 18%.