Roku and Amazon remain the dominant connected television (CTV) platform used in most American homes, and both brands are cutting into Samsung’s share of the CTV space, according to new data from Parks Associates shared first with The Desk.
The data, based on a survey of more than 8,000 American consumers, shows 25 percent of American homes are using Roku as their primary streaming platform during the first quarter (Q1) of the year, while Amazon’s Fire TV is used as the primary platform in 17 percent of homes. Roku and Amazon’s share both increased 5 percent when compared to Q1 2020, Parks reported.
Samsung’s Tizen OS is the second most-used primary CTV platform in American homes with a 23 percent share, Parks reported. Samsung’s share has fallen by 2 percent when compared to five years ago.
Other platforms, including LG’s webOS, Apple TV and Vizio’s SmartCast, continue to maintain a significant presence in American homes but have not materially grown their share over time. The data includes Americans who use integrated smart TV operating systems as well as separate, HDMI-enabled streaming devices, game consoles and other streaming hardware.
Among TV operating systems, Samsung reigns king with a 24 percent share of the domestic marketplace, according to Parks. LG is in a distant second with 11 percent, while Vizio’s SmartCast ranks third at 8 percent. All three platforms increased their share by an average of just under 3 percent when compared to data from five years ago.
When it comes to streaming dongles, pucks and sticks, Roku and Amazon have a commanding lead, with Roku accounting for a 41 percent share of streaming devices in American homes and Amazon’s Fire TV devices not too far behind with a 36 percent share. Apple TV is in third place with an 111 percent share, and Google’s Chromecast accounts for 6 percent of streaming devices, Parks said.
Roku and Amazon have long licensed their streaming TV operating systems to third party TV manufacturers, including Best Buy’s Insignia, Walmart’s Onn, Toshiba, TCL, Element and Hisense. That helped both companies gain a significant footprint in the living room with integrated experiences on hardware made by other companies but running their operating systems.
It also bolstered their platform-based business, which primarily consists of advertising and subscription. Of the $1.02 billion in overall revenue earned by Roku during its most-recent financial quarter, $880.8 million was attributed to subscriptions and advertising. Last year, Amazon earned more than $1 billion from advertising revenue generated by its Fire TV devices, according to financial data released by the company. Roku and Amazon are expected to refresh their earnings for Q2 within the next three weeks.
Parks Associates is expected to take a deeper dive into each company’s CTV share during events and presentations at the “Future of Video: Business of Streaming” conference in November. Readers of The Desk get 50 percent off the normal registration price when they sign up for tickets by clicking or tapping here and enter the promo code FOV25-DESK50 at check-out.
