Fifty-eight percent of U.S. broadband households use at least one over-the-top video service monthly, while more than 25 percent use two or more, Parks Associates said Monday. But OTT growth is slowing, indicating the subscription VOD market may be saturated, Parks said. Netflix dominates the OTT market, with 43 percent of U.S. broadband households being subscribers, followed by Hulu at 19 percent and Amazon at 17 percent, Parks said.

Young millennials would be less likely to cut the cord or switch pay-TV providers if their current multichannel video programming distributors offered TV Everywhere (TVE) service, according to survey data from Epix and strategy consulting firm Altman Vilandrie. Subscriber awareness of the ability to watch programs on their mobile devices "remains persistently low" at 36 percent, the companies said. Millennials ages 18-24 are 23 percent less likely to change their pay-TV subscriptions if their providers offer TVE than if they think it unavailable, they said Wednesday. Millennials ages 18-34 are twice as likely than consumers ages 35 and up to use TVE, the companies said. The survey was conducted by Altman Vilandrie and was done online in July among 3,400 U.S. consumers.

More than six of 10 U.S. consumers plan to buy tech gifts this holiday season, and a third want to buy “emerging” tech products, such as smart home devices, wearable activity trackers or drones, CEA said in a Thursday report on its annual CE holiday purchase patterns study. CEA estimates overall spending this holiday season will increase 3.4 percent from a year ago to $788.5 billion, including $34.2 billion to be spent on tech products, a growth of 2.3 percent from 2014, it said. TVs, tablets, smartphones, laptops and videogame consoles top the “wish list” of tech items consumers want most to get as gifts, while headphones, tablets, portable Bluetooth speakers and laptops top the list of most popular gifts to give, it said. Consumers plan to shop later in the season than usual, “consistent with a belief that the best deals” can be had on Black Friday (Nov. 27 this year) or after, CEA said. Of consumers CEA canvassed, 71 percent said they “plan to wait until November or December to start their holiday shopping,” it said. That is 10 percentage points higher than the similar answer in the 2014 survey, it said. Women (31 percent) are much more likely than men (17 percent) to start their holiday shopping in October or earlier, CEA said. Fifty-five percent of consumers canvassed said they are likely to shop for tech online this year, CEA said. “However, traditional retail channels remain essential sources of tech gift purchases,” with 77 percent of consumers likely to buy from a brick-and-mortar location, CEA said, saying that proportion is roughly “on par” with survey findings in the past four years. Homes with children are significantly more likely to shop online (69 percent) than households without children (56 percent), CEA said

Six in 10 consumers who own sleep activity trackers say they're satisfied with their devices and half say they're sleeping better knowing the technology is helping them, a joint survey CEA did with the National Sleep Foundation found. However, the research also found a contingent of non-believers who expressed skepticism that they need sleep activity trackers, with only 27 percent saying they believe sleep technology will help them be healthier, the groups said Tuesday in a joint report. Nearly 60 percent of survey respondents said a recommendation from their healthcare provider would be important in their decision to use sleep technology, but only 18 percent of users said they received such a recommendation, they said. The survey of 1,000 U.S. adults was conducted online last month, CEA said.

Nearly nine in 10 consumers canvassed this summer own at least one HDTV set, ShoppingNexus.com online price-comparison website said Tuesday in a report. Of the 461 consumers 18 and older polled by ShoppingNexus.com on their HDTV technology preferences, 60 percent preferred LED over LCD (26 percent) and plasma (14 percent), the report said, without properly explaining that plasma TV is nearly extinct as a consumer product and that an LED set is nothing other than an LCD TV with an LED backlight. The survey found that price (30 percent) is the most important factor in choosing an HDTV set, but brand (28 percent) and screen size (16 percent) also play important roles, the report said. Fifty-one percent of those canvassed said they think curved screens are “cool,” but won’t buy one, while 26 percent expressed a positive impression of curved sets and would consider buying one “at the right price,” it said. However, 19 percent said they regard curved screens as a “fad,” the report said.

Customers' satisfaction broadly is up with their residential TV, Internet and phone services, according to J.D. Power's 2015 satisfaction studies for those services, released Thursday. In residential TV, DirecTV was ranked highest in customer satisfaction in the East, tying with AT&T U-verse in the North Central U.S. Verizon FiOS topped customer satisfaction rankings in the South, while Dish Network topped West rankings. Network performance and reliability satisfaction was up 22 points from 2014, following a 17-point increase between 2013 and 2014, J.D. Power said. In residential Internet customer satisfaction, Verizon ranked highest in the East, South and West, while AT&T ranked highest in North Central, J.D. Power said. Overall satisfaction with ISP network performance and reliability was up 16 points from 2014. And in residential phone service, AT&T ranked highest in North Central and West, while Verizon took the East and South; nationally, satisfaction with network performance and reliability was up 35 points. The 2015 survey results are based on responses from 30,947 customers who were questioned between November and July.

Sixty-two percent of U.S. consumers and 77 percent of millennials go online via computer or mobile device to research tech accessories before deciding which to buy, said a CEA retail accessories report. Despite the online research, fewer consumers -- 30 percent via computer and 7 percent on mobile devices -- are making their final purchases online, said CEA. Consumers' top reasons for shopping online via a computer or mobile device are price, convenience and ease of browsing, but only 7 percent use "click to purchase" via mobile, it said. “Consumers want to ask questions and get demonstrations during the purchasing process," said Steve Koenig, CEA senior director, market research. Online retailers and manufacturers need to look for "innovative ways to accommodate this dynamic,” said Koenig. Features including live chats, short video demos or online tutorials can help retailers increase the likelihood of winning the sale, he said. Revenue for the accessory category (excluding headphones) will reach roughly $9.6 billion this year, up 4 percent from last year, said CEA. Unit and revenue growth for smartphone cases, chargers and portable chargers are expected to see double-digit growth in 2015, it said. Accessories make up 5 percent of consumer tech industry revenue, said CEA.

Virtual reality (VR) HMD (head-mounted display) headset shipments will jump from just over 3 million shipments in 2016 to nearly 30 million globally by 2020, said Juniper Research last week. VR is in a position to “finally take off,” due to low latency advancements, smarter graphics and corresponding growth from major players including HTC, Oculus and Sony, which are expected to launch key VR products over the next 12 months, said Juniper. The research firm, pegging 2016 as a “watershed year” for VR, expects “significant VR uptake” through 2020 on a combination of improved technology in immersive applications and lower prices. Developments in user interaction with the virtual environment will play a major role the VR’s success, said Juniper. Current systems use a stereophonic headset and a variety of controllers that mimic gaming controllers, it said. Improving the immersive aspects of the VR experience “will remain a challenge,” it said. VR headset revenue is forecast to exceed $4 billion by 2020.

California Gov. Jerry Brown’s (D) decision to veto a proposed drone law was applauded by CEA and the Small UAV Coalition (see 1509100008). The bill would have “dramatically inhibited UAV industry growth without delivering meaningful consumer privacy protections,” said the coalition in a news release Thursday. Vetoing the bill means drones and other unmanned aircraft can continue to revolutionize a “wide array of consumer and commercial activities, creating new businesses and jobs and providing life-changing solutions,” said CEA CEO Gary Shapiro in a news release Thursday.

Motorola Solutions introduced the Talkabout T480 radio, its first two-way radio specifically designed to help families during emergencies, said Motorola in a news release. The radio features a special alert button, safety whistle, weather alerts, flashlight and always-charged capability in a single device, the release said.