Penetration of Connected TV Devices Reaches 60 Percent of US Homes, Says NPD

Following annual growth of 6 million units per year, six in 10 U.S. internet homes have an installed connected TV device, said an NPD report Wednesday. In January, streaming media players were the most common installed internet-connected TV device, with 35 percent of U.S. internet homes owning a streaming media player, up from 29 percent last year, NPD said. U.S. households average three installed devices capable of delivering apps to their TVs, said analyst John Buffone, but the mix of devices continues to change as TV makers migrate to operating systems such as those from Roku, Amazon and Google. Content owners are benefiting from the trend by reaching “a larger audience through distribution on fewer platforms” and viewers benefit from finding more programming they want “in a single location,” said Buffone (see separate report this issue on LG’s smart TV adoption of the Sling TV service). All of the top subscription video services had increased usage on connected TVs and attached devices, with Amazon Prime Video pulling the highest usage numbers among all demographics and on all connected TV platforms from January 2016 to January 2017, said NPD. Hulu’s usage on a connected TV device had the steepest growth for the period, it said. Amazon and Netflix will continue to invest in content because original and exclusive programming are likely key drivers to the success of viewing apps, said Buffone. NPD’s survey, taken Jan. 26-Feb. 9, reached 5,350 U.S. consumers, aged 18 and older, reporting on more than 12,000 TVs.