Research: 61% US homes use smart TV as primary streaming device
January 8, 2026
Parks Associates has unveiled consumer research from its Tech Ecosystem Consumer Insights Dashboard showing that smart TVs are the dominant gateway for streaming video in US households.
Now, 61 per cent of US internet households use a smart TV as their primary streaming video device, continuing the shift in viewing behavior away from streaming media players, gaming consoles, and other connected devices.
Samsung’s Tizen operating system (OS) leads the smart TV market – 34 per cent of smart TV owners have Samsung Tizen OS as their most often used smart TV—but this market remains highly fragmented, with increased competition from Roku, LG, and Vizio. When accounting for all primary connected TV (CTV) devices in US internet households, including streaming media players and game consoles, Roku takes the lead as most used at 28 per cent. Roku has traditionally led in the streaming media player category and has steadily increased its share in the smart TV space, growing from 8 per cent in 2020 to 18 per cent in 2025.
The findings of 8,000 US internet households underscore how the control of the TV experience is consolidating at the OS layer.
“Smart TVs are the default way consumers access video, and so the OS has become the central point of competition,” added Jennifer Kent, SVP and Principal Analyst, Parks Associates. “Samsung’s leadership reflects the strategic value of platform scale, particularly as advertising, subscriptions, and service integration move directly into the TV interface.”