US Internet households now watch an average of 43.5 hours of video per week across all viewing devices. That number increased by more than six hours in 2020, when the average was 37.2 hours, according to Parks Associates
Parks’ new research also found that 61% of households watch paid streaming services on their television sets, spending an average of 7.5 hours per week watching content from these sources. Worth noting: 50% of people who watch video on a viewing device (TV, computer, tablet or mobile phone) watch a free ad-supported service (FAST) or an ad-based video on demand service (AVOD) at least once a week.
The data was released in a new research report titled “The Audience Journey: Navigating Streaming Options” released by Parks Associates during the 2024 NAB Show. The study surveyed 8,000 consumers and 10,000 Internet households to understand how viewers access video content through broadcast, traditional pay TV and streaming video models, including SVOD, AVOD/FAST, TVOD and vMVPD (streaming TV) services.
“The average video-watching household watches more than 21 hours of TV per week, accounting for half of their viewing time,” said Sarah Lee, research analyst at Parks Associates. “Video consumption on mobile phones continues to grow – excluding Social video sources, US internet households spend 6.5 hours per week watching videos on smartphones and 3.9 hours on tablets. TV remains the primary video viewing device, but platform usage continues to diversify.”
Audience Journey ranked paid streaming services as the most popular content type on TV, mobile, computers and tablets, but noted that households watched several different types of services on their devices during the week. 78% of households reported watching SVOD services weekly, followed by 67% of households watching user-generated content on YouTube and other sources.
“The flexibility and convenience offered by on-demand services are very attractive to viewers, but many families are seeking a balance between finding content to watch and watching content they discover themselves,” Lee said. “Given the popularity of FAST and user-generated content, consumers may soon decide they don’t need to subscribe to as many services as they do now.”
