According to the findings from a recent report conducted by Nielsen, consumers’ enthusiasm for streaming video shows no signs of stemming. The numbers just released show we’re spending more time, watching more things, in more places.
The new study acknowledged the fact that while 96% of U.S. households today still own a television, about 66% of homes now also have an internet-enabled connected device capable of streaming content to a television set, which includes enabled smart TVs, multimedia devices and video game consoles.
These statistics are significant, seeing as they highlight once again, the substantial role that Wi-Fi plays in the daily life of the average consumer–and the fact that Wi-Fi is becoming even more important to how we live our lives. Take smart TVs for example; most current models of these devices use built-in Wi-Fi to connect to a home network, eliminating unsightly cabling.
In addition to revealing that the majority of Americans now own a time-shifted television device, Nielsen disclosed that as of 2017, Subscription Video on Demand services (such as Netflix and Hulu) have officially surpassed device penetration levels of their time-shifted brethren, the DVR.
Furthermore, a final and noteworthy trend this report lays out is that tablet and smartphone penetration levels have quickly grown to 64% and 89%, respectively, while PC ownership is slowly on the decline.
While it is worth noting that smartphones and tablets both have streaming capabilities via mobile data as well as Wi-Fi, according to Business Insider, the findings from a separate 2016 report affirm that Wi-Fi still accounts for the larger share of data sent from smartphones. In fact, by in large, most U.S. consumers across the big four networks still try to avoid surpassing their data limits by ensuring that they’re conducting most of their data-heavy activities while connected to Wi-Fi.
As the report lays out, consumer access to Wi-Fi and streaming-related services/devices is on the rise and does not appear to be letting up any time soon. As video resolutions become higher definition and the number of devices in a household increase, so will our bandwidth needs. It would be a shame–and tough for this fast-growing industry–to have our streaming enthusiasm stifled by a lack of unlicensed spectrum to support Wi-Fi.