READ MORE: 46% of Adults Watch Video via a Connected TV Device Daily (Leichtman Research Group)
More signs that TV viewers are evolving into connected TV viewing households: 87% of US homes have at least one CTV device — up from 80% in 2020 and 38% in 2012, according to a new report from Leichtman Research Group.
Connected TV means content is streamed via the internet. Devices include connected Smart TVs, video game systems, Blu-ray players and stand-alone boxes, or sticks like Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, and Apple TV.
The data in this study indicates that there are now nearly 500 million connected TV devices in US TV households — an increase from about 300 million in 2017.
Naturally, viewing TV via the internet is up. Overall, 46% of adults in US TV households watch video on a TV via a connected device daily. This is compared to 40% in 2020, 25% in 2017, and 4% in 2012.
CONNECTING WITH CONNECTED TV:
Currently one of the fastest-growing channels in advertising, Connected TV apps such as Roku, Amazon Fire Stick and Apple TV offer a highly effective way for brands to reach their target audience. Learn the basics and stay on top of the biggest trends in CTV with fresh insights hand-picked from the NAB Amplify archives:
- The Ever-Changing Scenery of the CTV Landscape
- TV is Not Dead. It’s Just Becoming Something Else.
- Converged TV Requires a Converged Ad Response
- Connected TV and the Consumer
- Connected TV Opens Up a Million Ad Possibilities
LRG finds younger people most likely to use connected TV devices. Among all ages 18-34, 62% watch video on a TV via a connected device daily. It drops to 54% of ages 35-54 and 24% of ages 55+.
“Along with the increase in the number of devices, the percent of adults in the US using these connected devices to watch video on a TV each day has significantly increased — growing from twenty-five to forty-six percent — in the past five years,” underlined Bruce Leichtman, the president and principal analyst for the research group.
LRG’s study also found that the average number of devices per household is also up to nearly four devices per TV household — compared to 3.2 in 2020, and 2.4 in 2017.
Seventy-one percent of TV households have at least one connected Smart TV which is up from 58% in 2020, 41% in 2017, and 11% in 2012. It’s pretty hard to buy anything else.
On a daily basis, 28% of adults watch video on a TV via a stand-alone device, 27% via an Internet-enabled Smart TV app, 12% via a connected game system, and 3% via a connected Blu-ray player.
Award-Winning Producer Evan Shapiro to Keynote 2022 NAB Show New York Opening
By NAB Amplify
Award-winning film producer and industry thought leader Evan Shapiro will keynote the 2022 NAB Show New York opening event on Wednesday, October 19 at 10:30 a.m. at the Javits Center.
In his keynote address, “Bringing Media Into the Current Century, Now,” Shapiro’s notoriously interactive presentation will engage NAB Show New York attendees in examining the shifts occurring in today’s media landscape.
Shapiro’s address will take place in the Content Theater located on the show floor following welcome remarks by National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt.
Evan Shapiro is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning producer of film, TV and podcasts. He is a professor of Media Studies at New York University and Fordham University schools of business and co-hosts a podcast called Cancel Culture. Many in media know him as the official, unofficial cartographer of the media universe. Using his specific point of view, Shapiro has mapped the tech and entertainment ecosystem, and through his essays, helps chart media’s future. Shapiro uses these insights to power his change agency, ESHAP, which offers partners and consumers media insight as a service.
“With an impressive resume of award-winning projects, unique insight into the competition for audience’s attention and influential thinking about the future of the business, Evan Shapiro is a sought-after voice for preparing media professionals for the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow,” said Chris Brown, NAB executive vice president and managing director, Global Connections and Events. “We are excited to have Evan share his perspective with our community as we kick off the return to an in-person NAB Show New York.”
Shapiro will also participate in an exclusive interview on NAB Amplify as a preview to his NAB Show New York keynote address.
CHARTING THE GLOBAL MARKETPLACE:
Big content spends, tapping emerging markets, and automated versioning: these are just a few of the strategies OTT companies are turning to in the fight for dominance in the global marketplace. Stay on top of the business trends and learn about the challenges streamers face with these hand-curated articles from the NAB Amplify archives:
- How To Secure the Next Billion+ Subscribers
- Think Globally: SVOD Success Means More Content, Foreign Content and Automated Versioning
- How Does OTT Gain Global Reach? Here’s Where to Start.
- Governments Draw Battlelines To Curb the US Domination of SVOD
- Streaming Content: I Do Not Think You Know What That Word Means
Watch This: “The Future of CTV Monetization:”
Householders might want to cut the pay-TV cord but are confused by the myriad of streaming options available to get to the content they want.
Amazon is in prime position to become the streaming aggregator of choice, and a key part of their strategy is to make it easy for new customers to watch TV OTT.
“Where [consumers] just had a cable subscription, it worked and [they] just had to find the channel, [but] now it can be a confusing experience if you can’t find what you’re looking for,” explained Matt Hill, head of device monetization at Amazon Fire TV, in a conversation with Variety senior media analyst Gavin Bridge as part of the Streaming Summit at the 2022 NAB Show. “Making the jump to OTT hasn’t quite [been] invented the way that customers are looking for. I think that’s where the opportunity comes in with aggregated services.”
Live Sports Rights Show Inexorable Shift to Streaming
By Adrian Pennington
Live sports sustains viewing on cable TV and when there’s not enough of it viewers desert to streaming, according to the latest ratings figures from Nielsen.
Streaming claimed more than one-third of total TV time in June, and hit its fourth straight monthly viewing record, as the amount of live sport dipped on cable packages. With the NBA playoffs concluding on cable in May, sports viewing on cable fell 42.1%.
TV viewing is seasonally lower in the summer months, but total TV usage increased by 1.9% on a month-over-month basis, bolstered by a 7.7% increase in streaming, which raised its audience share 1.8 points to a new high-water mark of 33.7% — 6.3 points higher than in June 2021, Nielsen says.
Amid monthly viewing gains at major streaming services such as Netflix, YouTube, Hulu and Amazon, Nielsen attributed the general trend to a slowdown of new content on “traditional” television such as TV drama as well as reduced access to live sports programming.
The trend is happening as DTC services continue to lock down sports rights deals. As reported by Light Reading, Paramount Global just renewed its US rights to Champions League soccer matches for a reported $1.5 billion over six years, with some of that coverage expected to go to the Paramount+ premium streaming service. That deal drew interest from Amazon and Apple, streamers that recently have been successful in scoring a range of sports rights deals of their own. Amazon has exclusive TNF and Apple has a 10-year deal to stream MLS.
Sports was a bright spot for broadcast, though, as the NHL and NBA finals took place in June, driving a 43.8% spike in viewing.