Online U.S. adults who watch streaming or downloaded video content in the home now officially outnumber those who don’t, according to a new study from the Consumer Electronics Association.
Video viewers make up 53 percent of those online. The research also found a strong preference for streaming video versus downloading content, as 51 percent view streaming content and spend an average of two hours per week watching, while only 15 percent download content and spend an average of one hour watching. That doesn’t count how much time people spend using the bandwidth at work, on their breaks or for other reasons.
About the same percentage (54 percent) of online U.S. adults listen to digital audio in the home. The preferences switch places, however, with downloaded audio accounting for 43 percent while streaming audio is 37 percent. The CEA reports that consumers spent an average of 2.6 hours listening to downloaded files versus 2 hours for streaming audio.
The research also found that one in four consumers expressed an interest in purchasing a home media connectivity system, with 60 percent of that segment indicating they were considering buying a system with a purchase of a new home.
“Digital media consumption will continue to grow as the number of connected devices and services for accessing content improves and expands,” said Chris Ely, manager, industry relations, CEA. “Manufactures, content providers, aggregators and service providers must work together to ensure the content customers want is accessible through different devices. The sooner the market is able to meet the consumers’ needs, the sooner the industry will reap the benefits.”
Related links:
Connecting the Dots Between Consumers, Content and Consumer Electronics in the Home
Photo by Flickr user Racum/Ronaldo Ferreira, used under Creative Commons license
