• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, April 4, 2014

Combining the best of all media channels, Web TV is attracting more consumers than ever.
 
As such, a full 25% of consumers plan to buy a connected TV in the next 12 months, according to new Accenture Digital Consumer Survey, which included 23,000 consumers across 23 countries.
 
Another 11% of respondents said they intend to replace an existing connected TV, while 12% plan to purchase a video-friendly tablet.
 
“If consumers act on these intentions, it will represent remarkable growth in the addressable market for online video,” Gavin Mann, Accenture’s global broadcast industry lead, explained in the new report.
 
“This rapid digital expansion is fostering a new era of personalized TV experiences with the number of video-centric connected devices predicted to surpass the world’s population by 2017.”
 
Accenture also found that close to half (44%) of all respondents report viewing full-length movies and TV shows over the Internet on a daily basis, while 39% do so weekly. That is despite the fact that 86% reported streaming interruptions, and 71% noted marked slowdowns in their viewing experiences.
 
Boding well for service providers, 60% of respondents streaming video at home said they were willing to pay for a faster connection, while even more (62%) said they would pay extra for better quality viewing.
 
Asked about their preference for nontraditional broadcasters, respondents selected Google, Apple and Samsung, in that order. (According to Accenture, however, the selections were based on these companies’ potential to deliver Pay TV, VOD and Catch-up TV -- not their current core capabilities.)
 
“It is no coincidence that the three most popular brands also have the largest market share of phones and tablets,” Mann explained. “Consumers clearly value content seamlessly bundled with devices -- the reason Amazon dominates the ebook market with Kindle.”
 
Also of note, consumers are viewing digital content across more mobile screens but it remains anchored in the home. The overwhelming majority (more than 90%) of all digital consumption still occurs in the home via a fixed line. Accenture cited bandwidth constraints outside the home as continuing to limit mobile entertainment.