U.S. Internet households now consume 43.5 hours of video per week on average, according to the latest research from Parks Associates. The figure represents an increase from 37.2 hours in 2020, and is in relation to all viewing devices in the home, including TVs, computers, tablets and smartphones.
If focusing on TVs, the study found households typically watch 21 hours of video each week, accounting for roughly half of the total viewing hours. While TV remains the main device to watch on, smartphones continue to rise and now account for 6.5 hours per week. Video consumption on tablets accounted for 3.9 hours a week.
In addition to the device type, The Viewer Journey: Navigating Streaming Options study also looked at the type of content that homes consume. For example, while 61% of households watch paid streaming services on a TV set, they only consume an average of 7.5 hours of content from these services each week.
As has been the case with recent studies in general, the findings reinforce the notion that free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) content continues to rise in popularity. According to Parks Associates, 50% of people consuming video watch a FAST or ad-based video on-demand service (AVOD) at least once a week. Also similar to past reports, Parks Associates suggests this rise in FAST popularity may result in consumers subscribing to fewer services than before.
“The flexibility and convenience that on-demand services offer is highly appealing to viewers, but many households enjoy a balance between finding something to watch and watching what they find,” said Sarah Lee, Research Analyst, Parks Associates. “Given the popularity of FAST and user-generated content, consumers may soon decide they do not need to subscribe to as many services as they do now.”
The study also found that 67% of households now watch user-generated content from services like TikTok, Twitch and YouTube. This made user-generated content the second most popular video consumption source behind paid streaming services.
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