Connected TV is fast becoming standard. More than 85% of North American homes will own at least one Connected TV device (Smart TV, Streaming Media Player or Game Console) by the end of 2022, up from 73% in 2019 and 59% in 2015.

Multiple TV streaming platforms are vying for consumer attention as they look to be the primary entry point in the post-legacy TV landscape. Strategy Analytics/TechInsights research shows that Roku has a strong lead in North America with more than 65 million households owning a Roku-powered device. Amazon's Fire TV and Samsung's Tizen both have a strong footprint in the region but they are not alone and five other platforms have presence in at least 20 million North American homes.

As we start to move into a post-legacy TV world where streaming becomes the dominant way for consumers to access TV and video content, the upside potential for streaming platform providers is huge. Simply put, the more users a platform has, the more revenue it can generate by selling advertising space. For TV manufacturers who have suffered from years of razor thin margins, the opportunity for monetizing their customer base is plain to see. However, scale is critical and only those TV brands with significant market presence have the potential to compete with tech giants such as Amazon and Google. 

As global demand for TVs slows and Smart TV adoption curves mature, TV brands including Samsung and LG can no longer solely rely on their own TV brand share strength in order to grow the user base for their respective platforms. Samsung and LG have adopted a licensing model for Tizen and WebOS in an attempt to broaden the reach of their platforms and FAST TV services. Finding partners may be challenging, particularly in the upper tiers of TV manufacturers who may not wish to cede control of their devices to a direct rival. However, many TV manufacturers are hedging their bets when it comes to choosing a TV OS/platform partner and will provide their customers with the choice of different OSes across their model range.

The TV streaming platform market is crowded (particularly when compared to the PC or Mobile Phone industries). Consolidation is unlikely to happen anytime soon however as multiple players seek to take a share of the fast growing CTV advertising market. If anything, the market is going to get more crowded as new entrants emerge including Tivo Stream OS, Sky Glass and Comcast's XClass TV.

Our latest Connected TV Household forecasts for 30 countries can be found in a series of reports published in the Strategy Analytics/Technsights TV Streaming Platforms service.