• Survey: 57% of U.S. TV Households Have Roku or Amazon Smart TVs or Devices

    57% of U.S. TV households had either Roku or Amazon Fire TV smart TVs or streaming devices in Q1 ’20, according to survey results in the newest Connected Home report from Hub Entertainment Research. The two companies’ combined share rose from 51% in Q1 ’20.

    Among just U.S. homes with a smart TV or streaming device, Roku’s and Amazon’s share was a combined 69%. Of this Roku has a 40% share and Amazon Fire TV has a 29% share. These numbers are very close to those in FreeWheel’s recent Video Marketplace Report, which found the companies with a combined 72% share (Roku with 43% and Amazon with 29%). Hub didn’t report findings for smart TVs and players beyond Roku and Amazon.

    Overall, Hub found that 70% of U.S. TV households now have a smart TV, up from 68% in Q1 ’20. Smart TV account for 52% of all TV sets, up from 45% in Q1 ’20. Smart TV ownership in homes with children under age 18 and where the oldest person is under 35 had the highest smart TV penetration (59% and 61% respectively).

    Smart TV usage has increased also over the past year, with 56% of all U.S. homes saying they stream using a smart TV at least once per month, compared to 48% in Q1 ’20. Covid also seems to have flipped how consumers buy smart TVs. In 2019, 42% of respondents said they planned to shop and buy their new smart TV in a store, with 27% doing so online. Conversely, in 2021 29% said they planned to shop and buy in retail, with 43% planning to buy online.

    The data is based on a survey of 5,000 consumers conducted in February and March, 2021. An excerpt of the report is available here.