• by Wayne Friedman , December 1, 2014

The rapid rise of digital streaming media players — Apple TV, Roku and Chromecast — has now given these devices nearly a 20% total share of all U.S. TV households in 2014, up from 12% in 2013.

A study from market researcher GfK shows that Roku has a 6% share, with Chromecast at 5%, Apple TV at 4%, and Boxee and Amazon Fire TV each at 1%.

Although Chromecast adoption has quickly grown — Chromecast equaled Apple TV’s penetration in less than a year — GfK suggests its usage seems to be waning. Thirty-one percent of respondents say they are using Chromecast “less often,” versus 24% who say they are using it “more often."

Apple TV and Roku have better results. Forty-two percent say they are using Apple TV “more often” and 17% “less often.” For Roku, the data is 35% “more often” and 22% “less often.”

GfK says at least one in six digital streaming devices users end up cord-cutting or cord-reducing from traditional pay TV providers -- Fewer Chromecast and Apple TV users than Roku users are cord-cutters/reducers.

Although digital media players are seen as an alternative to existing pay TV packages, users say the impact on regular TV viewing is minimal -- registering nearly equal votes for being “additive” to and as a “replacement” for regular TV.

Movies are big genres for all three devices — followed by drama TV programs and comedy TV shows.

For individual entertainment apps, Netflix tops all three major devices when it comes to regular use. For Roku, Amazon Prime Video is in second place, followed by Hulu Plus. For Apple TV and Chromecast, YouTube is the second most-used app, followed by Hulu Plus. YouTube is not offered on Roku; Amazon is not offered on Chromecast or Apple TV.

The research surveyed 532 persons age 18 and older who own a Roku, Chromecast or Apple TV digital media player, with respondents able to take the survey for multiple devices. Results came from 17-minute online survey using GfK’s KnowledgePanel, with cooperation rate of 80% among the assigned sample.

The study was conducted from September 23 through October 6, 2014:

Roku, 238 active users, 27 inactive users; AppleTV, 204 active, 11 inactive; and Chromecast, 122 active, 21 inactive.