Connected TV Devices Reach Tipping Point

Viewers who are only getting their video programming solely from pay-TV providers or (gasp) over the airwaves are now in the minority.

According to The NPD Group, half of Internet-connected homes in the U.S. have a device that connects their television to the Internet (the tally includes Internet-enabled TVs, as well as separate devices Blu-Ray disc players, video game consoles and commercial online video on demand streaming media players, that use the TV as a screen). In total, 46 million homes had some sort of  connected-TV device in the second quarter of this year, up four million from the same period last year, according to NPD.

“We’ve hit mass-market adoption and scale, which is critical to programmers for distribution,” John Buffone, executive director of NPD’s Connected Intelligence service, tells Marketing Daily. “When you reach 46 million [households], networks and programs have a reason to release their programming over-the-top.”

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