CTV most popular among Millennials and Gen Xers

According to MTM's latest report, the growth of connected TV has mirrored the popularity of SVOD, with three quarters of anglophones now using it.
By Patti Summerfield
September 26, 2024

Over the past 10 years, ownership of connected TV (CTV) sets has doubled, with the majority of anglophone households (76%) now owning one.

For clarity, the latest MTM report looks at CTV sets, not specifically Smart TV sets. While a Smart TV has an internet connection built in, a connected TV needs an intermediary device to access online content, such as a digital TV box or a laptop.

CTV owners tend to be older, with 35- to 49-year-olds most likely to have one. Unlike other internet technologies, 18- to 34-year-olds are less likely to have CTV, probably due to the group being less likely to have a TV set, as well as their reliance on other screens (such as smartphones or laptops) to watch content.

CTVs are the main screen used for watching SVOD content. It doesn’t matter which specific SVOD people turn to, the connected TV set is the most common screen – often two to three times more popular than smartphones or computer screens. While other screens are more popular for watching YouTube – smartphones (64%), computers (51%) and tablets (23%) – 41% of YouTube viewers still watch on a CTV screen.

In fact, CTV growth has mirrored that of SVOD subscriptions. When CTVs first became available, SVOD services (mainly Netflix at the time) tended to be the main reason to connect the TV to the internet. Today, CTV owners are casting a wide net, viewing Netflix (77%), Amazon Prime Video (83%), Disney+ (83%), Crave (84%), Apple TV+ (81%) and sports streaming services (69%).

Nearly a quarter (24%) of CTV owners watch FAST channels, though they are only slightly more likely to watch FAST channels then the general population at this point (24% versus 22%). There is potential for more growth with manufacturers like Samsung and device makers like Roku promoting their apps/platforms that offer FAST content.

At 36%, Smart TVs are the most popular devices for connecting to the internet, followed by a media streaming device (34%), a digital box from a TV provider (19%), a game console (19%) or a computer/laptop (19%). Over one-third (34%) of CTV owners use a variety of media devices to connect, with the Amazon Fire Stick being the most popular (14%), followed by Roku (12%), Apple TV (9%), Google Chromecast (9%) and an Android Box (3%).