TV to succeed PC as top online video platform

TV is on track to succeed the PC as the top platform for watching online video in the US, with TV viewing habits increasing as PC viewership declines, according to new research by Parks Associates.

The research firm claims that in the first quarter of this year, US broadband users watched roughly three hours per week of online video on TV sets and PCs. However, for TV this was up from 2.3 hours per week in Q1 2013, while online viewing on PC is in “steady decline.”

Parks’ report said that 81% of US broadband households watch video on TV, while 60% watch content on a computer, 31% on a smartphone and 28% on a tablet.

The PC was the only platform to show “any significant decline in video viewing in the past year,” according to Parks.

“Ultimately, consumers can more easily access online video options on a television than ever before,” said Brett Sappington, director of research, Parks Associates.

“In addition to smart TVs, Blu-ray players, and game consoles, consumers are also buying streaming media players and devices such as Google’s Chromecast. Pay-TV providers are making a strong push to extend TVEverywhere to a variety of devices. These trends are converging to displace computer-based video consumption.”