Half of Internet Homes Own a Connected TV Device

Half of America’s Internet-connected homes now own a connected TV device that provides direct access to online entertainment from streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu, according to a new national survey from The NPD Group.

The total number of homes that have a smart TV, streaming media player, video game console, or Blu-ray player hit 46 million, up from 40 million in 2014.

The success of smart TVs is playing a key role in the growth, according to NPD’s Retail Tracking Service, which found that 45 percent of TVs sold during the second quarter of 2015 are “app-ready,” up from 34 percent last year and 24 percent in 2013. And while not all of those TVs are connected to the Internet, the number is growing. NPD reported that 69 percent of installed smart TVs were online as of mid-2015, up from 61 percent in 2014 and 45 percent two years ago.

“The increase in the number of homes that use a TV with apps is the result of three very important factors,” said John Buffone, executive director of NPD Connected Intelligence. “Sales of TVs with apps have skyrocketed, their user interfaces have improved, and there has been a surge in available premium services and programming.”

Netflix is the most commonly used video service among homes with connected TVs, followed by YouTube, Amazon Prime/Instant Video, Hulu, and HBO’s Go and Now streaming platforms, according to NPD. HBO displaced Crackle to become the first TV network to make NPD’s top five ranking.

NPD surveyed more than 5,000 U.S. consumers, age 18 and older, during the second quarter of 2015.

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