Report: Connected-TV Use ‘Heavily Skewed’ Toward Netflix Subscribers

DURHAM: Leichtman Research Group (LRG) has found that 49 percent of U.S. households have at least one TV set connected to the Internet, which is up from the 38 percent reported in 2012.

Overall, 24 percent of adults reported watching video from the Internet via a connected TV at least weekly, compared to 13 percent just two years ago.

LRG reports that connected-TV usage is heavily skewed toward Netflix subs, with 49 percent of subscribers to the service watching video from the Internet via a connected device weekly, compared to 8 percent weekly use by non-Netflix subscribers. Among Netflix streaming-video users, 78 percent reported that they watch Netflix on a TV set.

The research group also found that 80 percent of all Netflix subs also subscribe to a pay-TV service, though this figure is down from the 85 percent reported in 2012 and 88 percent in 2010. Forty-eight percent of those who do not subscribe to a pay-TV service do get Netflix, up from 29 percent in 2012 and 16 percent in 2010.

In total, 47 percent of households surveyed get Netflix, Amazon Prime and/or Hulu Plus.

On a daily basis, 31 percent of adults watch video on non-TV devices, and 58 percent do so weekly. Including connected-TV sets, 34 percent watch any OTT video daily, and 61 percent weekly.

"While this study is LRG's eighth annual report on this topic, Emerging Video Services have truly emerged over the past two to three years," said Bruce Leichtman, the president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group. "This recent growth was spurred by Netflix's decision in the third quarter of 2011 to focus on streaming video, coupled with the proliferation of connected TV devices, smartphones, and iPads and tablets."