75 million U.S. homes now have internet connected TV

Nearly three-quarters of broadband-connected homes now have a TV connected to the internet. The adoption of internet-connected TVs has mirrored the adoption of broadband in the US, but has slowed recently as more homes were connected.

According to new research from The Diffusion Group (TDG), the penetration of Internet-connected TVs among US broadband households has increased nearly 50% since 2013. By year-end of 2016, the number stands at 74%.

If you take Statistica’s latest estimates of 102 million broadband homes in the U.S., it would mean more than 75 million homes have internet-connected TV sets. No doubt the 47 million U.S. Netflix subscribers have helped fuel that growth.

Connected-TV penetration grew 22% between 2013 and 2014, and another 15% between 2014 and 2015.

Growth is slowing

Of late, however, growth has slowed to only 4%, a significant but not unexpected turn, according to Michael Greeson, TDG President and Director of Research.

As TDG first noted in 2004, the diffusion of connected TVs would closely follow broadband uptake, and as broadband growth begins to slow, so too does the number of new connected-TV users. TDG’s latest research validates this insight.

“At 74% penetration, connected TV use is squarely in the Late Mainstream phase of its trajectory. Barring any major disruption in TV technology or market conditions, growth will slow each year as the solution reaches saturation.” — Michael Greeson, TDG President

That said, pervasive access brings with it a wide range of opportunities, especially when it comes to video services.

“Broadband pay-TV services are particularly well positioned to leverage this utility, which permits scale at much lower costs,” said Greeson.