What Smart TV Consumers Do — and Don't Do — With Their Devices

One way for sure watching upwards of 10 billion hours of content through various applications per month according to the latest data from Nielsen and other media research outlets The content assortment being watched includes broadcast cable and multicast channels Netflix Hulu Amazon CBS All Access Facebook Watch YouTube and a growing variety of programming ventures using smart devices as their primary or exclusive distribution vehicle However there are plenty of available smart TV features consumers are not using to a great degree from ordering products and services at any moment to turning their lights or air conditioning on and offThat39s the conclusion of quotEvolution of the TV Setquot a new study of smart TV user habits assembled by Hub Entertainment Research late last month On a scale of one to 10 amp8212 with one being rare adoption and 10 universal adoption amp8212 smart TV penetration hovers around an eight or nine while usage of most smart features and applications is quotprobably like a four or fivequot says coauthor and media consultant David Tice pictured belowquotIt39s a bit like smartphonesquot Tice believes quotThere are tons of features and apps on them that people hardly ever use It39s kind of getting to be the same way with TV setsquotMore than 2500 smart TV set or device owners participated in Hub Entertainment39s report via interviews conducted this past May or June Nearly four out of 10 users 37 percent watch or listen to music through their smart products using apps such as Pandora or Spotify Two out of 10 users conduct chat sessions on their TV sets transferred from their tablets or smartphones About 18 percent browse Internet destinations via their smart TVs and 14 percent regularly check out the latest news weather and traffic informationThe inclusion of artificial intelligencepowered voice features such as Alexa Google Assistant and Siri inside many smart TVs and devices over the last 24 months is impacting consumer usage of nonvideo applications About 20 percent of the study39s subjects have AI access allowing them to control their device with their voice quotHaving that ability seems to be popularquot Tice says quotIt39s going to be increasingly builtin as a standard People are used to using voice features especially on their smartphones What people do on their smartphones will migrate to the set at some pointquotTice suspects that smart TV consumers would be further along the adoption curve if the smart TV set and device makers themselves devoted far more time and resources to educate consumers about their latest features Big events staged by the likes of Samsung or Google in New York Silicon Valley or Los Angeles avoid smart TV functionality demonstrations in favor of smartphones tablets and wearables A rare showcase of this kind was Amazon Fire TV39s display with Dolby earlier this summer in New YorkquotYou would think they would want to highlight features especially with the investments they make in these productsquot Tice says quotIt may come down to certain divisions of these companies having the money to do it and certain divisions don39tamp8230 They are kind of shooting themselves in the foot if they39re not promoting what39s possible with their own productsquotCompounding matters is an ongoing lack of press coverage about the subject from key newspapers cable news and business news channels and technologycentric websites as well as the absence of discussion at many TV and consumer electronics industry conferences or exhibitions Tice attributes both situations to the impression that TV sets amp8212 even smart TVs amp8212 are not quotvery sexyquot compared to smartphones and wearables quotMaking people aware that these products are out there wouldn39t hurt in getting people to try features and use them more oftenquot Tice saysTice predicts that the arrival of cloudresiding subscription game services interactive programs and advertising over the next year can trigger more smart TV sales and usage The coming of services such as Apple Arcade and Stadia from Google where games can be played over the TV without the assistance of a PlayStation or Xboxmodeled console tops his trio of usage breakthroughsquotThis will be the Netflix of gamesquot Tice says quotIt would get rid of a box in the home People don39t like having extra settop boxes or boxes connected to their sets They would have the most updated games and not worry about continually downloading updatesquotMillennials and younger generations of smartproduct users will in the end dictate how fast and far interactive features spread quotAs we see today39s teenagers and young adults take up a larger size of the TV audiencequot Tice believes quotinteractivity will become more important as we go alongquotClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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What Smart TV Consumers Do — and Don't Do — With Their Devices

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Simon Applebaum

Breaking Barriers: Nada Bradbury’s AD-ID Strategy for Advertising Effectiveness and Women in Tech - By E.B. Moss

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