CONNECTIONS Summit at CES 2020 spotlights smart TV market, including 8K, screen sizes, and growing role of streaming services for video content 

Ahead of CES® 2020, Parks Associates announced new research showing that more than 70% of US broadband households now own at least one streaming entertainment product and 50% own a smart TV. 360 Deep Dive: Demand and Perception of Connected TVs also reports that 77% of smart TVs owned by US broadband households are now connected to the internet, an increase from only 62% in 2014.

360 Deep Dive: Demand and Perception of Connected TVs features research and insights from a survey of 10,000 US broadband households including a detailed examination of ownership, purchasing, features, sizes, brands, and consumer usage of both smart TVs and basic, non-smart TVs.

“Manufacturers have invested in improvements to the app and user experience on their smart TVs and are being rewarded with higher connection rates, which keeps the user within their ecosystem,” said Kristen Hanich, Senior Analyst, Parks Associates. “Higher connection rates result in greater opportunity in monetizing the user base, which is increasingly important as manufacturers and software providers look to extend into subscriptions and ad-supported OTT video services, such as Samsung’s new ad-supported video service Samsung TV Plus. We will see a lot of announcements at CES this year focused on delivering a superior user experience to keep consumers in their ecosystem.”

The renewed focus on app development and user experience is particularly important as the younger generation (“Generation Z”) starts to mature, as their preferences for entertainment delivery and consumption are markedly different from prior generations. Generation Z shows a strong preference for other forms of entertainment over watching TV programming, which will represent a growing challenge to TV makers.

“Overall television ownership is beginning to decline, even as smart TV adoption grows,” Hanich said. “Millennials and Generation Z collectively represent the largest segment of TV buyers, but their unique demands on the TV are forcing manufacturers to rethink the role and form factor of the TV set.”

Smart TVs are the most commonly adopted streaming entertainment product type, and increasing adoption of OTT services has helped drive device purchases. Parks Associates finds that 72% of US broadband households subscribe to at least one OTT streaming service, and 25% of US broadband households purchased a TV in the past 12 months.

Additional research:

• 90% of US broadband households own at least one television; 50% own at least one smart TV while 40% own basic televisions only.
• 56% of recent smart TV buyers purchased a TV with 4K video support - only 33% owned a TV with this feature in Q1.
• Households with children purchase smart TVs at two times the rate of households without children.
   

Parks Associates will host the fifteenth annual CONNECTIONS™ Summit: Smart Home Business Models and Strategies, January 7 at CES® 2020 in Las Vegas. The event includes eight executive sessions and a networking reception, sponsored by Alarm.com, on January 7, the opening day of CES. During CES, visit Parks Associates at Booth #42452.

For information on 360 Deep Dive: Demand and Perception of Connected TVs, contact sales@parksassociates.com. To schedule an interview with an analyst or to request specific research data, please contact Elizabeth Parks at eparks@parksassociates.com, 972-996-0202.