Parks Associates has released a new white paper with Applicaster, with research finding that in Q1 ’20 almost one-third of U.S. broadband users said that their smart TV was their primary streaming video device. That’s up from less than 30% in Q1 ’19. That’s almost double the percentage of users citing streaming media players and computers as their primary device. Broadband users are watching more than 20 hours of video on their smart TV per week, up 40% from 2017.

Overall, Parks found that more than half of broadband users in the US report owning at least one smart TV. Parks believes technological advancements in smart TVs have been critical to their adoption. These advancements include:

• Operating systems from Android TV, Roku TV, Fire TV and others that allow integration of advanced features including universal search and data-driven recommendations.

• Streamlined app development that has driven app development and consistency of quality.

• App stores that enable developers to submit, launch and update apps.

• Voice control that improves app and content discovery, delivering a better user experience. Parks found that 30% of TV owners said their TV had a voice control feature.

• Other features, such as HTML5 browsers, dedicated remote control button for certain OTT services and co-viewing experiences across mobile and smart TVs.

Parks also found certain preferences for users who owned both a smart TV and a streaming media player. Following were features  that around 30% or more of respondents cited for why smart TVs were preferred over SMPs: remote control, ease of navigating user experience, content search, attractiveness of user experience, connecting to the Internet and finding apps.

Meanwhile Parks found that a number of Covid-related impacts. In Q1 ’20, 76% of broadband users subscribed to an OTT service, an increase of 6 million users vs. Q1 ’19.

The white paper is available for download here.