Internet TV Delivery Set To Pass Antenna-Only

According to a new study from the Consumer Electronics Association, The Market for US Household Television Services, the percentage of US households with a television that relies exclusively on an antenna for reception (6%) is about to be eclipsed for the first time by the percentage of households relying only on the Internet for TV programming (5%).

CEA data since 2005 shows a continuous decline in the percentage of US TV households relying only on antennas for programming. “We are at a pivotal point in consumer behavior, as fewer and fewer American homes are now using only antennas to watch their favorite television programs, and more and more households turn to the Internet as a source of TV content,” said Gary Shapiro, president-CEO, CEA.

Despite phenomenal growth in tablet and smartphone penetration rates, televisions are still the most widely used viewing devices, according to the study. TVs have the highest household penetration of any viewing devices (97%) and strongest video content viewership (93%), especially now that Internet-enabled televisions have reached mainstream consumers. According to the study, viewership of video programming on connected devices continues to grow. Nearly half of TV user households watched video on either a portable computer or smartphone, and more than a third watched on either a tablet or desktop computer.

Specifically:

• 46% of US TV user households watched video on either a laptop, notebook or netbook (up from 38% in 2013)
• 43% watched video on a smartphone (up from 33% in 2013)
• 35% watched video on a tablet (up from 26% in 2013)
• 34% watched video on a desktop computer (up from 30% in 2013)
• Additionally, the study shows the percentage of US TV households consuming at least some TV programming via the Internet has nearly doubled. Almost half of US TV households (45%) received at least some television programming from the Internet in 2014, a 17 point increase from 2013 (28%).