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Connected TV Device Use Levels Off After Viewing Surge During COVID-19: LRG

Use of connected TV devices leveled off over the past year after being “pulled forward” in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, said a Q2 Leichtman Research Group report. Still, 39% of adults watch video on a TV via a connected…

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device daily, 60% weekly and 70% at least monthly, it said. Despite consumers having more ways to watch video, TVs are “overwhelmingly” their preferred delivery method, said Leichtman. Given a choice of screens, 78% of survey respondents said they prefer to watch video on a TV, 11% on a laptop or desktop computer, 8% on a smartphone and 3% on a tablet. About 82% of U.S. TV households have one internet-connected TV device, with an average 4.1 per TV household, said the report. That’s up from 74% in 2019 and 30% in 2011. Nearly nine in 10 households that bought a TV in the past year have at least one smart TV, it said. Younger people are most likely to use connected TV devices. Among ages 18-34, 54% watch video on a TV via a connected device daily -- compared with 43% of ages 35-54 and 22% of ages 55-plus. Major pay-TV providers lost about 1.9 million subscribers in Q1, while just over a million broadband subscriptions were added. About 250 million more TV households have connected TV devices than pay-TV set-top boxes, said Leichtman. In 2016 that number was 35 million, it said.