The Cross-Platform Report

The average American watches nearly five hours of video each day, 98 percent of which they watch on a traditional TV set. Although this ratio is less than it was just a few years ago, and continues to change, the fact remains that Americans are not turning off. They are shifting to new technologies and devices that make it easier for them to watch the content they want whenever and wherever is most convenient for them. As such, the definition of the traditional TV home will evolve.

In the past year, the number of homes with an HDTV grew by more than 8 million. This suggests that the TV screen remains the dominant platform on which to consume content, even though the means by which the content is delivered to the screen might be shifting. Watching traditional—live and timeshifted—TV remains the bulk of all activity on TV sets, accounting for more than 33 hours per week despite a decline one half of one percent in time spent compared to Q4 2010. Consumers are, however, finding new ways to use their TVs.

When it comes to newly released movies, old TV shows and everything in between, consumers are increasingly turning to devices that enable them to watch streamed content on their big screen. Two-thirds of game consoles in homes are now connected to the Internet, creating a new conduit for content delivery. In fact, more than half of Netflix users watch on their TV set via a game console or over-the-top streaming device1.