Nine in ten households now own a streaming device

Here’s one more proof point that streaming is mainstream now: 88% of all U.S. TV households now own a streaming-capable device, be it a smart TV, game console, Blu-Ray player with built-in apps, or dedicated streaming dongle, according to a new report from the Leichtman Research Group.

• That’s up from 82% in 2021 and 74% in 2019. The amount of households with TV-connected streaming devices doubled between 2013 and 2023, according to the report.

• Smart TVs in particular have seen a lot of growth in recent years: 74% of TV households have at least one smart TV, compared to 64% in 2021, 47% in 2018, and 13% in 2013.

• 55% of all TVs in U.S. TV households are now smart TVs. In 2021, that number stood at 43%, while in 2013, only 7% of all TVs were smart TVs.

• Streaming dongles are still growing as well, albeit at a bit of a slower rate. 62% of TV households have at least one such streaming device, compared to 55% in 2021, 46% in 2018, and 6% in 2013.

And no, all those dongles aren’t just collecting dust. 49% of adults watch video via a connected device every day, according to the report. Five years ago, that number stood at 29%; a decade ago, TV streaming was an outlier, with only 6% of consumers watching video that way every day.

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Image credit: Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash