Gaming Consoles Dominate as Web-to-TV Devices

SCOTTSDALE: According to research firm In-Stat, networked video gaming consoles are the most used devices for watching online content on television sets and will remain so through 2013.

By 2013, more than 10.7 million consoles will be used as web-to-TV devices in the U.S., according to the report. By then, revenues from web-to-TV streaming services will increase to $2.9 billion. “Currently web video is largely additive to traditional TV revenue streams,” says Keith Nissen, an In-Stat analyst. “However, ultimately web video to the TV will force a complete restructuring of today’s video distribution ecosystem.”

Other key findings include that the number of U.S. broadband households viewing web-to-TV content will grow to 24 million in five years, and that 29 percent of U.S. 25-to-34-year-olds with game consoles already use the devices to watch streaming video off the Internet.