Smart TVs accounted for 14.8% of streaming viewership time globally in Q3 ’20, double their 7.7% share in Q3 ’19, according to Conviva’s new State of Streaming report. Smart TVs’ share was approximately even with Q2 ’20.

Thought smart TVs’ growth was the fastest of all devices Conviva tracked, connected TVs (e.g. Roku, Fire TV, Chromecast, etc.) still maintained 50% share of viewership in Q3 ’20, roughly flat from a year ago. Mobile and desktop each declined from 13% to 10% share with tablets and gaming consoles holding steady at 5% and 10% respectively.

In North America, connected TVs had a 58% share of viewership

Among smart TVs, Samsung maintained its dominance, with 47% share, distantly followed by LG (22%), Vizio (13%) Android TVs (9%) and Amazon Fire TVs (7%).

Overall streaming viewership time was up 57% in Q3 ’20 vs. Q3 ’19, as Covid trends remained. The Oceania region had the biggest growth (up 293%), followed by Europe (+121%), South America (+104%), North America (+51%), Africa (+39%) and Asia (+12%).

Among connected TVs, Roku continued its leadership, with 48% share of viewing time, followed by Fire TV (28%), Apple TV (8.5%) and Chromecast (7%).

Connected TV devices remain an inexpensive and convenient way for consumers to access OTT video, and with recent improvements to all the leading CTV devices, viewership will remain strong. However, smart TV prices continue to plunge during this holiday season, no doubt leading some consumers to simply replace existing TVs (and/or add new ones with family members moving back home due to Covid) rather than buy CTV devices.

Conviva also found that on demand content accounted for 70% of viewing time, up from 63% a year earlier, with live declining from 37% to 30%. Time viewing NFL games increased by 41% vs. a year ago, with daytime games up 63%, compared with primetime games up 32%. Global ad impressions rebounded in Q3, up 22%.

Conviva also observed improved streaming quality, with 38% higher picture quality, 17% fewer video start failures and 13% less buffering time vs. a year ago.

Conviva’s report is drawn from data collected from 3 billion streaming video apps used by 500 million unique viewers across 180 countries. The full report can be downloaded here.