OTT Has Surpassed DVR Usage in U.S., Now 'Mainstream,' Comscore Declares

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Around 64 million U.S. homes now use an over-the-top device, up 7% in one year.

That’s one of the key takeaways from Comscore’s latest State of OTT presentation, which polled the consumption habits of more than 10,000 Americans in March of this year. In fact, Comscore declares early in its report that OTT is now “mainstream.”

Notably, there are now nearly as many OTT households in the U.S as there are those using digital video recorders—Comscore said there were about 69.9 million U.S homes with DVRs in March 2019, up slightly over March 2018.

OTT usage continues to surpass that of DVRs—in March, U.S. consumers watched about 5.5 billion hours of OTT video vs. around 4.6 billion hours of DVR TV.

Another interesting tidbit from Comscore’s presentation: smart TVs are now the fastest growing delivery mechanisms for OTT video, increasing penetration into U.S. homes by 23% to 29.8 million from March 2018 to March 2019.

Over that span, streaming boxes and sticks increased their infiltration by 9% to 36.7 million. 

Daniel Frankel
Daniel Frankel

Daniel Frankel is the managing editor of Next TV, an internet publishing vertical focused on the business of video streaming. A Los Angeles-based writer and editor who has covered the media and technology industries for more than two decades, Daniel has worked on staff for publications including E! Online, Electronic Media, Mediaweek, Variety, paidContent and GigaOm. You can start living a healthier life with greater wealth and prosperity by following Daniel on Twitter today!