Smart TVs Gain on Gaming Consoles as Primary Means to Streaming, Says Parks

Seventy-three percent of U.S. broadband households have at least one entertainment device connected to the internet, an increase of 11 percentage points over early 2015, said a Parks Associates report Thursday. Smart TVs are on track to surpass connected gaming consoles as the No. 1 streaming device in the home, though purchases are largely part of the standard replacement cycle as new TVs “are likely to be smart,” said analyst Barbara Kraus. Some 32 percent of broadband households with at least one connected streaming device use a gaming console as the primary means of streaming media, a 27 percentage point drop in two years, while smart TVs are the streaming device of choice in 28 percent of households, she said. “New owners of smart TVs will try out the smart functionality in the new TV and continue to use it if it meets expectations.” Smart TV ownership in the U.S. grew to 45 percent of broadband households in Q1, said Parks. A quarter of broadband households are using a tablet to access online video content and 20 percent do so using a smartphone, it said. Nearly 90 million streaming media players will be sold globally in 2020, said Parks, with most growth coming from the Asia-Pacific region for the stick form factor.