Internet only TV viewers to outnumber antenna users

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) released a new study, The Market for US Household Television Services, which shows two diverging trends.

One, “... data show that since 2005 there is a continuous decline in the percentage of US TV households relying only on antennas for programming.” No surprise here. In 1986, half of Americans used free over-the-air TV signals captured by indoor or outdoor antennas.

Last year, though, 45 percent of TV households streamed at least some Internet television programming, a 17 point increase over 2012.

The result is, says CEA, “The percentage of US households with a television that relies exclusively on an antenna for television programming reception (6%) is about to be eclipsed for the first time ever by the percentage of households relying only on the Internet for TV programming (5%).”

Rapidly increasing dependence on the Internet has not, however, signaled the demise of the familiar large-screen television. Said CEA, “... 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.”

Viewing TV via the Internet to Surpass Viewing via Antenna (Consumer Electronics Association, Jun. 5, 2014)