Broadcast television is losing its grip on the entertainment market as more cord cutters emerge in the past decade. Recent reports from the Leichtman Research Group show that nearly nine out of ten U.S. households have one, if not more, internet-connected televisions.
The report goes on to break down some important distinctions between which viewing habits it looked at specifically. Internet-connected Smart TVs users have gone up from 82 percent in 2021 to 88 percent in 2023. This includes streaming devices such as Roku, Amazon Fire TV sticks, Chromecast units, and Apple TV, amongst other similar products. The number also encompasses internet-connected Blu-Ray players as well as internet-connected video game consoles.
Back in 2013, only 44 percent of U.S. households had an internet-connected device. In 2018, that number jumped up to 74 percent and kept on rising as streaming services grew into the preferred way to access entertainment. Now that 44 percent number applies to U.S. households who only have Smart TVs.
The report looked at 1,770 households with a television. The Leichtman Research Group found that 49 percent of U.S. adults use an internet-connected device daily, up from 39 percent in 2021. This is a huge leap from the earliest listed report in 2013 that showed a mere 6 percent of U.S. households were streaming entertainment every day.
“Nearly half of all adults now watch video via a connected device… While Smart TVs are a key component of the connected TV category, the vast majority of connected TV users stream via multiple types of devices,” said Bruch Leichtman, President and Principal Analyst for the Leichtman Research Group.
The surveyed households also show that 63 percent of adults ranging from 18 to 34 years old watch daily via connected devices, while 58 percent of adults ranging from 35-54 watch daily. Only 27 percent of U.S. households over 55 years young use internet-connected devices to watch daily.