As TV manufacturing Companies including the two biggest Samsung and LG as well as Google move to try and strip millions in revenue from click revenue coming from smart TV applications on their TVs, new research reveals that more people are using some form of set top box such as Foxtel, Fetch TV Amazon Fire Stick or Apple TV because they deliver more than what most TV’s are able to deliver.
Recently Samsung Korea licenced their popular Tizen TV OS to an Australian Company who now has the Samsung Smart TV offering running on a multitude of TV’s sold at The Good Guys, Harvey Norman and Aldi. LG has done the same with their Web OS offering.
What these Companies are trying to do is rake in dollars from streaming services such as Disney+, Paramount+, Kayo and Foxtel as well as Netflix, Stan and Prime Video.
Credit: Fetch TV
The new research by Hub Entertainment reveals that most consumers are still plugging into an external streaming device to access content.
For example, Netflix and Prime Video are easier to manage when it comes to fast forwarding with a Foxtel remote than it is with most TV remotes that are often slow when it comes to reversing or fast forwarding.
The Hub Entertainment Research surveyed respondents aged 16 to 74. It found that a lot of people also used a device like Fetch TV 4k, Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K, Foxtel 4K boxes, Apple TV 4K, or Chromecast with Google TV to access content especially on older TV’s.
Three-quarters of respondents also say they use their smart TV or streaming box for non-video usage.
The most popular of these is music or audio, through services like Spotify, Tidal, Amazon Music and Apple Music.
Observers claim that quite often use the external box because they have more powerful processors that can be dedicated to tasks like gaming – the recently unveiled Apple TV 4K (2022) features the same A15 Bionic processor as the iPhone 14, for example.
Streaming apps on devices can also support different audio and video formats, wireless audio platforms, cast systems, such as Apple AirPlay 2 and Google Chromecast, fitness apps like Peloton and Apple Fitness, smart home integration, multi-user support (with user profiles), and have space to store downloads like movies and albums.
