As the penetration of smart TVs rises in US homes, people are finding new ways to interact with and use them. Voice usage is becoming more sophisticated, and audio streaming and screencasting are more common.
TV replacement cycle boosts smart TV penetration to 74%
The TV replacement cycle, which stands at 6.6 years in the US, is gradually helping smart TVs proliferate in US homes. 
According to the Leichtman Research Group, 88% of TV homes have a connected TV. 74% have a connected smart TV, and 62% have a connected TV device.
The increasing importance of streaming TV in people’s entertainment portfolios is also clearly shown in the data. 56% of homes with a connected TV use it to stream daily, up from 48% in 2021 and 39% in 2018. Expect this trend to continue in the coming year as more sports are available from streaming services and cord-cutting accelerates.
At least as recently as 2022, the number of daily users of connected TV devices exceeded those using a smart TV to stream daily: 28% versus 27%. This data seems odd because smart TV penetration has exceeded streaming media player penetration by 12% in the last two years. However, the only reason someone buys a streaming media player is to stream to the TV. A smart TV buyer may not be interested in streaming to the TV at all.
Voice usage is highest among smart TV users, though it is unclear why
According to TiVo, two-thirds of smart TV owners report using voice control with their device versus 56% of streaming media player owners. Why smart TV users are more likely to use voice is unclear. It could be because virtually all smart TVs offer voice control while the cheapest streaming media player may not. For example, the $29.99 Roku Express does not include voice functionality, while the $29.99 Fire TV Lite does.
Popular streaming media player TV OSs like Roku, Fire TV, and Google TV are available on many smart TVs. It is hard to believe there would be any difference between the proportion of Google TV smart TV and streaming dongle owners in voice usage.
The function people use voice for the most, by far, is to search for something to watch. More than two-thirds of voice control users search for specific programs, almost double the second most popular function, channel change. And they are using voice search in more sophisticated ways. 52% keep things short and simple with a request for a specific title. But the rest use a more conversational approach at least half the time.
Hub Entertainment Research says that more people are connecting their television to a smart speaker and using it to control their experience. The company says 30% of smart TV homes have connected their TV and smart speaker, up from 25% last year.
Smart TVs are not just used to watch television
Roku reports the hours active users stream each month but does not differentiate between video and audio streaming. According to Hub, almost half of smart TV owners say they stream audio via their smart TV. It makes sense since the proliferation of sound bars and AV surround systems in US homes means the best-sounding speakers are attached to the TV.
Another popular activity is casting. Hub says 38% of smart TV homes cast another device’s screen to the television. Since the smartphone is the main storage device for home videos and photos, sharing them with others via a smart TV makes a lot of sense.
