Report: 27 Percent of U.S. Broadband Homes Own a Streaming Media Device

DALLAS: New research from Parks Associates reveals that more than a quarter of U.S. homes with a broadband connection (27 percent) now own a streaming media device.

The firm's Q1 2015 consumer survey found that nearly 90 percent of these households actually have the devices connected to the internet as well. More consumers bought a streaming media device in the last 12 months than Blu-ray player. These devices have the highest connection rate among all the top CE categories. While 77 percent of the households with a smart TV have them connected to the web, less than 50 percent of those with a Blu-ray player have the devices connected.

“The paradigm is changing, thanks to the growing amount of online and OTT content available to connected CE, which has allowed streaming media devices to carve out a key niche in the connected home,” said Barbara Kraus, the director of research at Parks Associates. “With the popularity of content streaming, CE manufacturers must innovate to create unique user experiences.”