A decade ago, with their gaming consoles serving as the nexus for the nascent but fast-emerging streaming habit, both Microsoft and Sony hatched ambitious plans to blend subscription video into walled gardens of entertainment.
But just like PlayStation Vue, those days are over now.
According to a survey conducted by Aluma Insights gauging the streaming device preferences of 2,000 heads of U.S. households, use of Xbox or PlayStation consoles to stream video account for only 6% of total streaming time. This is down from 26% in 2015.
Traditional pay TV set-tops are now only used for 9% of streamed viewing, and -- this is surprising to us -- smart phones or tablets account for just 6% of streaming.
Not surprisingly, the smart TV now rules streaming, with Aluma reporting smart TV penetration into 64% of U.S. households, and TVs now accounting for 50% of streaming time.
As for actual streaming pucks, dongles and sticks, now handle just 21% of streamed viewing.
“This is an example of a well-worn migratory pattern,” said Michael Greeson, founder of Aluma Insights. “The newest, most feature-laden television goes to the living room and the set it replaces moves to the primary bedroom, then to the second bedroom, and so on. As this happens, the use of bridge devices to watch streaming video in all rooms of the home is further diminished.”
