With online and mobile video proliferation continuing apace, the percentage of U.S. households with a television that relies exclusively on an antenna for television programming reception is about to be eclipsed for the first time ever by the percentage of households relying only on the Internet for TV programming. And that should have an impact on spectrum policy, some say.
According to a new study from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the TV world has seen what can only be described as a cultural revolution in the past 30 years. In 1986, when cable was just becoming mainstream, more than half of American homes with a TV relied solely on free, over-the-air broadcasting. But the CEA now reveals that just six percent of U.S. TV households turn to rabbit ears for their TV programming exclusively.
“We are at a pivotal point in consumer behavior, as fewer and fewer American homes are now using only antennas to watch their favorite television programs, and more and more households turn to the Internet as a source of TV content,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO at the CEA, who noted that OTA usage has been minimal since 2005. “This continues a nine-year, downward trend that shows antenna-only viewership remains at all-time lows, and an upward trend of consumers watching video programming when and where they choose.”
Meanwhile, viewership of video programming on connected devices continues to grow. A full 5 percent of households now rely only on online programming for video entertainment.
There’s also heavy complementary usage: the study shows the percentage of U.S. TV households consuming at least some TV programming via the Internet has nearly doubled. Almost half of U.S. TV households (45 percent) received at least some television programming from the Internet in the last year, a 17 point increase from the previous year (28 percent).
On the mobile front, 43 percent of U.S. consumers watch video on a smartphone (up from 33 percent in 2013), and 35 percent watch video on a tablet (up from 26 percent in 2013). Meanwhile, almost half (46 percent) of U.S. TV user households watch video on either a laptop, notebook or netbook (up from 38 percent in 2013). And, about a third (34 percent) watched video on a desktop computer (up from 30 percent in 2013).
“In the next year, we expect the number of U.S. households relying exclusively on the Internet for TV programming to equal or surpass the total of those relying only on antennas,” said Shapiro.
He added that the results are clear indications that freeing up more broadcast spectrum for advanced wireless services should be a priority. “As consumers continue to turn to other devices and services for TV programming – devices that need wireless spectrum to deliver the content we want anytime, anywhere – it’s clear that the free, public spectrum given to broadcasters could be put to much better use.”
That said, it should be noted that despite phenomenal growth in tablet and smartphone penetration rates, televisions are still the most widely used viewing devices according to the study. TVs have the highest household penetration of any viewing devices (97 percent) and strongest video content viewership (93 percent), especially now that Internet-enabled televisions have reached mainstream consumers.
“The television remains the most commonly owned video viewing device and our primary means of watching video content,” said Brian Markwalter, senior vice president of research and standards, CEA. “But significantly more households that use televisions to watch TV programming are now also turning to alternative video devices at home. The explosive growth of Internet programming means consumers now have better options to watch video content on different types of screens they may own.”
Edited by
Maurice Nagle 
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