U.S. Video Consumption Tops 43 Hours Per Week

U.S. internet homes are now viewing 43.5 hours of video per week across all devices, up by more than 6 hours since 2020, according to a new study from Parks Associates.

The report, The Viewer Journey: Navigating Streaming Options, also found that 61 percent of households watch paid streaming services on a TV set. On average, viewers are consuming more than 7.5 hours of SVOD content per week. Further, half of respondents are watching a FAST or AVOD service at least once a week.

“Video-viewing households report watching on average of more than 21 hours per week on a TV, accounting for half of their viewing hours,” said Sarah Lee, research analyst at Parks Associates. “Video consumption on a cell phone continues to rise—excluding social video sources, U.S. internet households spend 6.5 hours per week watching video on a smartphone and 3.9 hours on a tablet. TVs are still the main video-viewing device, but platform usage continues to diversify.”

Paid streaming services dominate consumption habits, with 78 percent of homes using an SVOD platform every week, followed by 67 percent accessing user-generated content on services such as YouTube.

“The flexibility and convenience that on-demand services offer is highly appealing to viewers, but many households enjoy a balance between finding something to watch and watching what they find,” Lee said. “Given the popularity of FAST and user-generated content, consumers may soon decide they do not need to subscribe to as many services as they do now.”