LRG: U.S. Connected-TV Penetration Exceeds 50 Percent

New consumer research from Leichtman Research Group (LRG) finds that 69 percent of U.S. TV households have at least one television set connected to the internet.

This could be either via a smart TV set, a stand-alone device—like Roku, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV stick or set-top box, or Apple TV)—a video game system or a Blu-ray player. The figure is up from 50 percent in 2014 and 24 percent in 2010.

There are actually more connected TV devices in U.S. households than there are pay-TV set-top boxes. Among those with any connected TV devices, 76 percent have more than one device, with a mean of 3.5 per connected TV household. Across all households (including those that do not have any of these), the mean number of connected TV devices per household is 2.4, while the mean number of pay-TV set-top boxes per household is 1.7.

Overall, 25 percent of adults in U.S. TV households watch video via a connected TV device daily, compared to 11 percent in 2014 and 1 percent in 2010.

“Connected TV devices continue to expand both in terms of the percentage of U.S. households that have connected TV devices and the frequency that people are using them,” said Bruce Leichtman, the president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group. “Yet, with 81 percent of connected TV households also getting a pay-TV service, choices provided by connected TVs are generally being integrated with traditional viewing options.”