According to the NPD Group, some 30 million U.S. homes will have 47 million TV sets connected to the Internet by 2017. As of the fourth quarter of 2014, there were 22 million connected TVs installed and accessing the Internet, up from 13 million a year ago. Ownership of Internet-connected TVs is now more common than Internet-connected Blu-ray disc players, of which U.S. consumers own 20 million.
The research house says that in the fourth quarter of 2014, connected TVs edged out Blu-ray disc players to become the third most prominently owned device that delivers apps to TVs in the United States. Video game consoles and streaming media players still rank No. 1 and No. 2 respectively.