Streaming media players have become the most commonly installed and internet connected TV device. 60% of U.S. internet homes have at least one TV connected to the internet. Year over year, the number of homes with an installed connected TV device increased by six million, now totaling 60% of U.S. internet homes. As the number of connected TV homes continues to grow, the devices used to make those connections have shifted. In January 2017, streaming media players were the most commonly installed internet-connected TV device. 35% of U.S. internet homes now have a streaming media player, up from 29% last year.
“The average connected home has three devices installed and able to deliver apps to their TVs, but the mix of those devices continues to change,” said John Buffone, executive director, industry analyst, NPD Connected Intelligence. “Shifts are also occurring in the industry as TV manufacturers migrate to operating systems from Roku, Amazon and Google. This benefits content owners, as they can reach a larger audience through distribution on fewer platforms, and viewers, as they’ll be able to find more of the programming they want in a single location.”
Streaming media players also generated the highest incidence of usage for most of the top video apps including Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu. According to the latest Application & Convergence report, while all of the top subscription video services saw increased incidence of usage on connected TVs and attached devices, Prime Video experienced increased usage among all demographics and on all connected TV platforms from January 2016 to January 2017. In the same timeframe, Hulu’s incidence of use on a connected TV device saw the highest percentage of growth when compared to other services.
“As consumers decide which devices to use and apps to leverage for content, original and exclusive programming are likely to be key drivers,” stated Buffone. “Industry leaders, like Amazon, Netflix and others will continue to put increased investments into these programs in order to drive demand and viewer engagement.”