Use of connected TV devices leveled off over the past year after being “pulled forward” in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, said a Q2 Leichtman Research Group report. Still, 39% of adults watch video on a TV via a connected device daily, 60% weekly and 70% at least monthly, it said. Despite consumers having more ways to watch video, TVs are “overwhelmingly” their preferred delivery method, said Leichtman. Given a choice of screens, 78% of survey respondents said they prefer to watch video on a TV, 11% on a laptop or desktop computer, 8% on a smartphone and 3% on a tablet. About 82% of U.S. TV households have one internet-connected TV device, with an average 4.1 per TV household, said the report. That’s up from 74% in 2019 and 30% in 2011. Nearly nine in 10 households that bought a TV in the past year have at least one smart TV, it said. Younger people are most likely to use connected TV devices. Among ages 18-34, 54% watch video on a TV via a connected device daily -- compared with 43% of ages 35-54 and 22% of ages 55-plus. Major pay-TV providers lost about 1.9 million subscribers in Q1, while just over a million broadband subscriptions were added. About 250 million more TV households have connected TV devices than pay-TV set-top boxes, said Leichtman. In 2016 that number was 35 million, it said.
The advent of streaming expands the addressable market for games by eliminating the need for a console, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter wrote investors Thursday in a gaming trends report. May U.S. console and handheld software sales were $190 million, up 19% year on year, beating Wedbush's $173 million estimate, though supply constraints continued to limit sales of PlayStation 5 and Xbox consoles. The analyst expects a dramatic expansion of games platforms similar to Roblox, where creators display content and monetize from interaction with other creators or with users. Advertising will play a larger role in the category as a “dramatic expansion of ad delivery technology” results in more in-game ads, he said. In addition, business models will evolve to incorporate free-to-play, premium and cross-platform play to make games “ubiquitous.” He cited recent acquisitions including Skillz’s buy of Aarki allowing Skillz to combine first-party data with Aarki’s machine learning for targeted ads; Take-Two’s buy of mobile games developer Nordeus with more than 240 million users, and EA’s announced acquisition of mobile games studio Playdemic whose Golf Clash is estimated to generate around $200 million annually.
Amazon’s new Reading Sidekick feature, which uses an Amazon Kids-enabled Echo smart speaker and a Kids+ subscription ($3 a month or $25 per year), is designed to help kids ages 6-9 become strong readers using Alexa, it blogged Tuesday. Kids engage an Echo device by saying, “Alexa, let’s read,” said Amazon. Children tell Alexa the book’s title and the digital assistant asks whether they want to read a little, a lot or to take turns, said the company.
Smart home company Orro announced an integration with Sonos under the Works with Sonos program. Customers can use the display on Orro smart light switches to control audio content on their Sonos speakers including adjusting volume and skipping tracks, it said Wednesday. To set up the integration, Orro professional installers and customers select Sonos from the Integrations section of the Orro app. The device then searches for the Sonos system and “within seconds,” all connected Sonos products in the home are hooked up and controllable by Orro, it said.
Five Little Rock TV stations began broadcasting in ATSC 3.0 on Wednesday. Stations are KATV (ABC), KTHV (CBS), KARK-TV (NBC), KLRT-TV (Fox), and KARZ-TV (MyNet). NextGenTV service is on the air in more than 25 U.S. cities. Antenna viewers can get instructions here on rescans.
Netflix’s venture into consumer products, announced several weeks ago, along with reports it may be expanding its game offerings, indicate the company is “looking to build a new profit pool or two a la Disney,” MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson wrote investors Tuesday. But consumer products or gaming won’t be enough “to change the narrative,” said the analyst, suggesting Netflix instead should add a live sports tier or advertising-based VOD offering to reach new customer segments and markets, especially in emerging regions with low average revenue per user. Since the start of 2018, Netflix has underperformed the S&P 500, rising 34% vs. 57% for the broader market, Nathanson said, saying a maturing U.S. subscriber base and an intensifying competitive environment among streaming services contributed to limited stock performance. He questioned how much growth is left in Netflix’s subscription VOD business, while “the success of AVOD businesses has been especially notable this year, and Netflix seemingly would have pole position to capture that market.” He noted Netflix “has a fundamental opposition to advertising,” but he said emerging pressure to find growth “as well as a more developed AVOD ecosystem may make Netflix more amenable to advertising on the service.” Netflix benefited from the COVID-19 pandemic with record subscribership last year, but subscriber growth slowed to below guidance in Q1 at 4 million subscription adds. The analyst expects an acceleration in signups in the second half as more content is available, but “as economies further reopen, we believe people will spend more time engaging through in-person activities rather than streaming content at home.” Netflix didn’t comment Tuesday.
Microsoft has nothing “to share at this time,” emailed a spokesperson Friday, on the As You Sow shareholder proposal filed last week urging the Microsoft board to weigh relaxing the company’s restrictions on third-party device repair (see 2106240054). The spokesperson referenced what he called a “relevant section” of Microsoft’s 2020 Environmental Sustainability Report in which it committed to reducing “as much waste as we create across our direct operations,” and becoming “zero waste” by 2030, including by making all Surface tablets and laptops “fully recyclable.” The report is silent on boosting device repairability as a means of keeping discarded electronics out of the e-waste stream. Microsoft “actively restricts consumer access to device repairability, undermining our sustainability commitments,” said the As You Sow proposal.
Wireless power-at-a-distance developer Ossia met with aides to FCC Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioners Brendan Carr and Gregory Starks to stress the U.S. needs a “level regulatory playing field” to compete with Canada, China, Japan and EU on the technology, said a filing posted Friday in docket 19-226. Regulatory authorities of U.S. competitors are “rapidly moving forward” to approve wireless power at a distance, said Ossia. Other countries have taken “significant steps to embrace wireless power transfer,” it said, and China is “particularly active” through innovations from Huawei, Lenovo and Xiaomi. “It is no exaggeration to say that 5G and IoT cannot fully develop” without technology like Ossia's, it said. Billions of new 5G and IoT devices will need power, “and there are not enough batteries or electricians in the world to make that possible,” it said.
Global 5G connections reached 298 million in Q1, adding 79 million sequentially, said 5G Americas. It cited Omdia, which previously reported global 5G connections reached 401 million at Dec. 31 but revised that due to “specific improved clarity from one large country in the Asia-Pacific.” The association didn’t comment Thursday. 5G connections added this year are triple the year-ago period, said 5G Americas. Uptake is “progressing everywhere as deployments, connections, coverage and the number of devices continue to grow,” said President Chris Pearson, saying estimates “are being adjusted based on new information,” as 5G builds through new applications and uses. Nine 5G networks went live worldwide in Q1, bringing the total to 172, 5G Americas said, citing TeleGeography. That's expected to reach 273 by year-end, 313 by 2023. Availability of 5G devices is growing, with 511 5G devices available this month, said the Global Mobile Suppliers Association. North America had 28.6 million 5G connections and 502 million LTE connections. The U.S. is driving 5G growth in North America, said Omdia analyst Kristin Paulin: “The major operators have blanketed the US with coverage and are now offering device incentives to further drive growth.” C-band deployments are set to further strengthen 5G offerings early next year, she said.
CES 2022 “looks fantastic,” CTA President Gary Shapiro told Media Institute President Richard Kaplar in a virtual Q&A Tuesday. Kaplar, toward the end of Shapiro’s speech on First Amendment issues (see 2106220049), had asked the CTA chief about the prospects for a successful in-person Las Vegas show in early January and what the association was doing to hold a big gathering safely. “I was going over some of the floor plans this morning,” said Shapiro. CES 2022 is attracting an “incredible number” of global exhibitors, he said, without mentioning the show’s possible health and safety protocols. “But we are realistic. There are pandemic issues we’re dealing with, especially outside the United States.” CTA definitely expects “fewer international people coming” to the physical show, though a “record number” of international visitors are “signing up,” said Shapiro.