Survey: Over Half of All Televisions in U.S. Are Smart TVs; 49% of Adults Watch Video Via Connected Device Daily
The adoption of streaming devices is one key metric that shows how dramatically the television industry has changed over the years. Once a fascination, streaming players are now every bit as ubiquitous as the rabbit-ears antenna that so many adults remember having to position and adjust to get the best signal from over-the-air broadcasts decades ago.
New data from the Leichtman Research Group (LRG) is putting the adoption of streaming devices into better focus. LRG reports that 88% of households in the United States have at least one smart TV or streaming device, including video game consoles and connected Blu-ray players. That number is up from 82% at this time in 2021.
More than half of all TVs in the U.S. are now smart TVs, as that number has climbed to 55%. Nearly three-quarters — 74% — of all households with a TV have at least one smart TV, and 44% of homes with a set have exclusively smart TVs in their house. Forty-nine percent of adults in U.S. TV households watch video on a TV via a connected device daily.
That’s good news for the TV manufacturing startup Telly, which is giving away hundreds of thousands of free 55” 4K smart TVs in exchange for the ability to sell certain customer data to advertisers. Telly’s user agreement requires the sets that it gives away to be the primary TV used in a household, and LRG’s data shows that most users are quite willing to make use of smart TVs when given the opportunity.
The numbers from Leichtman also indicate that 62% of households have at least one connected streaming device, such as a Roku, Amazon Fire TV, or Apple TV player. A slightly larger percentage, 67%, have multiple types of connected TV devices. The mean age of those with multiple types of connected TV devices is 42.3, while the mean age of those with one type of device is 50.5, and the mean age of those with no connected TV devices is 55.5, which predictably means younger users are generally more comfortable with using multiple internet-connected devices to watch video.
“Nearly half of all adults now watch video via a connected TV device daily, a significant increase from 29% five years ago, and 6% a decade ago,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for LRG. “While Smart TVs are a key component of the connected TV category, the vast majority of connected TV users stream via multiple types of devices.”
With so many types of streaming devices now available, customers have to use caution in deciding which to buy. For example, some streaming players built overseas using select portions of the Android TV code were recently found to be sold loaded with malware that could be used to instigate large-scale cyber attacks. Users must always be careful to purchase streaming devices that come from trusted manufacturers or put the security of their data at risk.
The numbers from Leichtman reinforce a Hub survey from April that showed 75% of homes own at least one smart TV. Customers have spoken, and by a large majority; they enjoy the convenience and ease of use that smart TVs and connected devices offer when it comes to streaming video.