More than 60% of US broadband homes have connected TVs

63% of US broadband households have at least one TV connected to the Internet, according to new data from The Diffusion Group.

The study revealed that the number of US households receiving entertainment services such as Netflix and Pandora via an Internet connected TV was up 19% year on year in January 2013, with average ownership at 1.6 units.

The figure includes TVs connected to the Internet either directly via a smart TV, or indirectly via ancillary net-to-TV devices like game consoles or dongles.

Of the 1,500 adults surveyed who subscribe to a home broadband service, 42% said that they have two or more connected TV configurations.

“Whether net-to-TV video will somehow topple traditional pay-TV service models has been a red herring from the beginning,” said Michael Greeson, president and director of research of TDG.

“The real debate is the extent to which the growing availability and expanding use of ‘OTT TV’ services will have on the time viewers spend watching traditional pay-TV given the growing array of sources at their disposal.”

While Greeson does not think that this is a “simple zero-sum game”, he said that we are nearing or at the breaking point where the growing use of broadband-based sources “simply chips away” at time once spent using traditional sources.