A new study puts Apple TV at the top of the streaming-box charts, but it’s faring less well in public perception on social media.
Adobe draws data for its quarterly survey, Digital Video Benchmark, from hundreds of apps and billions of online views. And the second chunk of 2015 had some surprises.
You can check out the full, 19-page report from Adobe, but here are some of the most interesting bits.
• Since last year, connected devices like Apple TV, Roku, and gaming consoles have seen a 110 percent growth in use. They now account for 21 percent of viewing and have overtaken Android devices and web browsers. iOS devices still account for half of online watching.
• This quarter, Apple TV had a 10 percent increase in its own slice of the connected-device pie, and it now accounts for one in eight views (12.8 percent). Apple TV is twice as popular as Roku (6 percent) and almost 13 times as prevalent as Amazon Fire TV (1 percent).
• A survey of “Teens and Toons” programming — which may or may not be an accurate representation of those age groups despite the fact that many grown-ass people like me still watch cartoons — suggests that younger viewers are shifting away from iPhones and iPads and toward connected devices. iOS has fallen from 69 percent of this area to 47 percent since last year, while set-top boxes rose from 10 percent to 25.
• Apple TV isn’t a complete winner here; Adobe’s look at social media shows that people tend to speak more positively about Roku than Apple’s streaming box. While 37 percent of people spoke joyfully about their Rokus, only 23 percent felt the same way about the Apple TV. And 36 percent of posts expressed sadness about Apple’s device versus only 26 percent for Roku. “The buzz surrounding Apple TV was dominated by sadness which was largely driven by the announcement to delay live TV streaming,” the report says. Apple had planned to include live TV with its box, but those deals may not be in place in time for launch. Roku had more comments associated with joy and admiration, but Apple won in surprise and anticipation, likely because it has a much-discussed new model coming out this fall, and Roku just quietly announced its latest version today.
Note that these findings come from “TV Everywhere” services like HBO Go and individual cable companies’ online services for subscribers and do not include other streaming apps like Netflix and Hulu. We’re sure including those services would affect these numbers, but this provides a pretty decent snapshot of where people are going for their entertainment.
