New Research from Irdeto Reveals 53% of Americans Believe Mobile Devices Will Replace TV Sets in the Next Eight Years

Las Vegas, Nev., January 8, 2014--New research from Irdeto that explores consumer television and video viewing preferences revealed that 53% of consumers believe that mobile devices like smartphones and tablets will replace television sets in the next eight years as the most common way to consume entertainment. Of that group, 31% believe that change will actually occur sooner, in the next one to five years.

Released  at CES 2014, the survey was conducted among 1,000 nationally representative U.S. adults, ages 18+, between December 17th and December 23rd, 2013. It tackled important questions on entertainment viewing preferences, highlighting that traditional TV viewing is still king in America’s households.

Key Findings:

  • The majority of consumers (65%) still prefer to watch their favorite content live at the time of broadcast (also known as linear programming), whether it is on their television or streaming on a mobile device.
  • Sixty percent (60%) of the “Netflix generation” - 18-24 year olds - indicated they prefer to watch full series at once, without waiting a week or more in between new episodes. This underscores the binge-watching trend that kicked into high gear with the 2013 release of Netflix’s original seriesHouse of Cards.
  • When it comes to broadband connected devices, 31% of people believe they will be using a Smart TV to watch movies and television within five years, rather than popular CE devices like gaming consoles (6%), hybrid streaming devices like Roku (6%), tablets and mobile phones (5%) and dongles such as Google Chromecast (2%).
  • Consumer demand for 4K TV sets is gaining momentum but still has a ways to go, with only 18% “very interested” and 40% “somewhat interested” in purchasing a 4K/Ultra HD television. Sixteen percent (16%) of respondents revealed that they are not at all interested in the newer technology

“In the past 10 years, we’ve seen mobile devices eclipse the consumer landline telephone market, and we’re seeing a similar fundamental shift in the television industry,” said Richard Frankland, Vice President of Sales, Americas, Irdeto. “As the data indicates, we have reached a point where not only are devices as important to consumers as televisions, but a generational clash is also occurring between the demand for live programming and over the top services. The consumer electronics industry is working to get those consumers back through innovations like 4K, and the operators and content owners will follow suit by creating profitable offerings that meet consumer demands.”

The full survey results can be found here on the Irdeto website.