• Roku Expands to 37% Market Share of Connected TV Devices

    Roku’s share of the connected device market grew to 37% of U.S. broadband households in Q1 ’17, up from 30% in Q1 ’16, according to new research from Parks Associates. Roku has shown amazing staying power considering it has been up against some of the biggest tech/device companies in the world. Clearly looking to capitalize on its market momentum, Roku is reportedly planning to go public by the end of 2017.

    Amazon’s Fire TV also expanded its market share, to 24% of U.S. broadband homes from 16% in Q1 ’16. Conversely, Chromecast fell from 22% to 18% during the period and Apple fell from 20% to 15%. Other devices accounted for the remainder in both quarters.

    Overall, Parks said that one-third of U.S. broadband homes have a connected TV, with 45% of broadband homes having a smart TV and almost half of homes have a gaming console (the overlap among these groups wasn’t revealed). All of the data is in Parks’ new report, Reinventing CE: Transforming Devices to Service Platforms.

    The mass adoption of connected TV devices is one of the most significant trends in the online video industry today. There is an important symbiosis between the proliferation of high-quality scripted originals from SVOD providers like Netflix and Amazon and the ability for viewers to watch these programs on HDTVs with connected TV devices in their living rooms.

    Ad-supported online video is also benefiting from connected TVs. In its Q1 ’17 Video Monetization Report, FreeWheel found that 32% of all ad views are now delivered via connected TVs, up from just 2% 4 years ago. Roku has also said separately that ad-supported video are the fastest growing apps being used by device owners.

    For ad-supported video, connected TV devices hit the bullseye of offering all the targeting and dynamic insertion upside of digital advertising, with the lean-back emotional impact of TV advertising. When ad buyers look for premium video experiences against which to place ads, connected TV inventory is among the most valuable.

    The brisk growth in connected TVs is likely to continue as consumers seek to connect more TVs, adopt various SVOD services and cut back on multichannel TV subscriptions. If it can continue innovating, Roku looks poised to become one of the biggest beneficiaries of these trends.