Most Americans can get internet on their TV — but they’re still mostly watching plain old TV

U.S. cord cutters watch more Netflix than Amazon Video, Hulu and YouTube combined

Netflix is continuing to dominate streaming services in the U.S., not only in terms of penetration in cord cutters’ homes, as reported in April, but also in time spent watching. According to data from comScore, cord cutters are watching more Netflix each month than YouTube, Hulu and Amazon Video combined. But Hulu users are more engaged with the service on a daily basis, the study indicates. The data from comScore was cited by MarketingCharts in its own report released this morning, and follows on earlier findings that the user base for subscription video services has now topped the cable TV audience, indicating a shift in how people in the U.S. are today watching television. Netflix in April accounted for 40 percent of over-the-top viewing hours, compared with 18 percent for YouTube, 14 percent for Hulu, and 7 percent for Amazon Video. It also has the most monthly viewing days per household at 12.3 days. But when you look at viewing behavior on a day-by-day basis, Hulu is far ahead of the pack. On average, U.S. cord cutters are watching 2.9 hours of Hulu per day, which is ahead of Netflix (2.2 hours), YouTube (2.1 hours), and Amazon Video (2 hours). Though MarketingCharts’ report didn’t delve deeply into why that’s the case, the primary reason is simply due to the fact that Netflix has higher penetration in the U.S. However, the new figures may point to key differences in how consumers watch the different streaming services, too. Netflix, for example, likely encourages more binge watching sessions, because of how it drops entire seasons of shows at once – like the recent release of Season 5 of “Orange is the New Black,” where a single event – a prison riot – is told across 13 episodes. The entire season feels like one, long story, not a dozen or so separate ones. Meanwhile, Hulu’s partnerships enable streaming access to network and cable TV programming, which in turn has people tuning into its service on a more regular basis to see if new episodes of their favorite shows are available. Or, in other words, Hulu is taking the place of traditional TV in the cord-cutting era, while Netflix has become associated with an entirely different style of viewing. In fact, Netflix has been credited with the invention of this new storytelling “art form” – something that sits in between being a TV show but isn’t quite a film, either. Storytellers have adapted their content to cater to binge watchers, too, by telling these longer stories, and sometimes even crafting entire first seasons that function as the “pilot,” instead of just the first episode. Plus, these TV stories don’t have to rely as much on things like manipulative cliff-hangers – a holdover from the network TV era where shows needed a hook to pull people back next week. Now, storytellers can instead count more on Netflix’s auto-play feature, which loads up the next episode immediately after the current one ends. On Netflix, it takes more effort to stop watching than to keep bingeing. The new data doesn’t definitively prove that these factors have contributed to why Netflix is capturing more viewing hours, but they likely play a role. Source: Techcrunch

The latest in TV technology – Q1 2017

It's been a while since the last overview of what's happening in the world of TV technology, so it's high time for another update. As always, the year kicked off with CES in Las Vegas, where each of the large TV brands (Samsung, LG, Sony, Panasonic, Philips, etc) presented its plans for 2017. Same as last year, the focus in display technology was on HDR, which is becoming the new normal. While in the past LG was the only company known for OLED technology, many others announced OLED screens as well, although most of these will probably be rebranded LG displays. Another trend was a move towards extremely thin screens, with the logic, HDMI ports, offloaded to a separate module which can be hidden discretely. Old non-sensical hypes like 3D TV or curved TVs are going away. In the area of software, there were relatively few changes. There were the usual updates to webOS, Tizen, etc, but no major shifts. The only problematic case appears to be Firefox OS, which runs on some Panasonic TVs, for which the development team inside Mozilla was scrapped. In the console space, Sony is stronger than ever with its PlayStation 4. It has sold a massive 53 million consoles, dwarfing Microsoft's Xbox One sales, which are roughly half. Meanwhile, both Sony and Microsoft are steadily working on improving the software on their consoles. The next big step will be Microsoft's introduction of its Project Scorpio Xbox at E3 in June. The big news in the console space was the launch of Nintendo's new Switch console, which is basically a handheld which can also be docked to a TV. While very interesting, Nintendo has chosen to focus exclusively on gaming for now. Video streaming capabilities are expected to be added later on, but none are present on the device right now. With regards to set-top boxes, Apple appears to finally be working on a 4K and HDR version of its Apple TV. Currently, it's the only major TV platform which hasn't got that capability yet. NVIDIA pushed out a new version of its SHIELD TV at CES">CES, where Amazon">Amazon announced that it is licensing its Fire TV OS to Smart TV brands, similar to how Roku TV and Android TV work. Amazon also significantly overhauled the user interface of its Fire TV software. Roku is finally deprecating its old legacy SDK in favour of the much more versatile and pretty SceneGraph SDK. Outside of the major players, Caavo announced a set-top box to connect them all, although the price is very high at $400. Meanwhile, the shift in political power in the US has resulted in a new FCC which is unlikely to force any changes to the operator set-top box landscape in the US.

Smart TVs to drive internet-connected TV growth

By the end of 2020 there are forecast to be 260 million installed devices attached to the Internet and able to deliver apps to TVs, according to the latest NPD Connected Intelligence forecast. This represents 31% growth in TV-connected devices over the forecast period, led by smart TVs and streaming media players. In fact, smart TVs will drive nearly half (48%) of installed Internet-connected TV device growth through 2020, while streaming media players will contribute 31 percent of ownership growth. The TV-Connected Device Forecast looks to shed light on how new generation smart TVs and evolved streaming media boxes and sticks will shape home entertainment. According to the forecast, by 2018, and through the end of the forecast period, household penetration of smart TVs will achieve relative parity with streaming media players as platforms delivering apps to TVs. “Sales of smart TVs and continued growth in streaming video will contribute to the increase of installed internet-connected TVs,” said John Buffone, executive director, industry analyst, NPD Connected Intelligence. “Additionally, 4K mass market adoption plays an important role, as nearly all 4K TVs are internet capable.” The rate of attaching connectable-TV devices to the internet is projected to increase from 73% in 2016 to 81% of installed units by 2020. This will eventually lead consumers to choose a preferred device and result in a diminished use of other devices. From January 2013 through January 2017, usage of installed internet capable TVs to access online content increased from 30 to 55%, demonstrating growing consumer interest in streaming video. As such, streaming media player original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), including Google, Roku and Amazon, continue to partner with TV OEMs to integrate their operating systems directly into displays. “All trends point to smart TVs and streaming media players driving the majority of growth in TV-connected devices. When you compound the increased usage for streaming video, it points to further dominance of these platforms, as they provide the premium content and ease of use consumers demand,” noted Buffone. Source: BroadbandTV News