According to Parks Associates, streaming media players are the most frequently used Internet-connected entertainment device, with 41% of owners using their players daily or almost daily. Only 34% of smart TV or smart PVR/DVR owners use those devices daily. The research house says that among consumers who say their streaming media player is their preferred device for accessing online content, they report spending 10.4 hours per week watching online video content on the device.
"The smart TV is the most commonly used Internet-connected entertainment device, and it is the device most commonly associated with pay TV services, but when looking specifically at device owners, consumers are spending more time online with their streaming media players," said Kristen Hanich, Parks research analyst. "Sixty percent of households that have at least one Internet-connected entertainment device own multiple devices - their viewing habits often vary by device as well as by room, with some devices and rooms over-indexing in terms of content type watched."
Parks says owners of smart TVs spend 9.8 hours per week watching pay TV content, and streaming media player owners watch content from online services 10.4 hours per week.
Other findings indicate:
- While almost half of U.S. broadband households own a gaming console, only 37% of households actually connect that device to the Internet.
- 44% of U.S. broadband households connect a smart TV to the Internet, while 53% of households own this product.
- More than 34% of streaming media player owners now own an Amazon Fire TV, up from 28% in Q1 2017.