• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, June 4, 2014

More consumers search and consume TV content on devices running Apple's operating system. iOS apps now surpass browsers for the first time as the most popular access type for TV Everywhere, taking 43% market share in Q1 2014 -- up from 41% in the year-ago quarter, per an Adobe study released Wednesday. Browsers fell to a 36% share in the quarter, down from 47% in Q1 2013. Android apps are in third place with 15% share -- up from 11%, respectively.

More than 80% of children's TV Everywhere content was viewed through iOS apps. Apple apps also provided access to more than 50% of broadcast channel authenticated videos. Half of news authenticated videos were viewed on browsers. U.S. online video consumption across smartphones and tablets now contributes 25% -- up 57% in Q1 2014 compared with the year-ago quarter.

Overall, TV Everywhere content consumption grew 246% year-over-year (YoY), excluding data from the Sochi Olympics, per Adobe. The findings released in its Q1 2014 U.S. Digital Video Benchmark Report Wednesday identify trends related to mobile viewing, device usage across smartphones, tablets and gaming consoles, the increase of TV Everywhere (TVE) authenticated content and more.

The report is based on consumer video viewing in 2013 to 2014, aggregating anonymous data from media and entertainment sites gathered from Adobe Analytics and Adobe Primetime. including 151 billion online video starts and 1.3 billion TVE authentications.

When it comes to reach, 21% of pay-TV households in the U.S. accessed TV Everywhere content across devices in Q1 compared to just 16% six months ago. Ninety-five TV channels now power more than 160 TV Everywhere sites and apps in the U.S. -- 30 more channels than six months ago.

More consumers are going to Web sites' streaming content. The number of unique TV Everywhere visitors to Web sites and apps per month rose 157% YoY, while the number watched per visitor each month rose 133% YoY. iOS apps drove 9.2 video streams on average per visitor each month, and about 5.1 videos in Q1 2013, and Android apps came in with 9.6 streams, and about 3.9 in Q1 2013.