Less than 20 per cent of games console owners with smart TV functions like BBC iPlayer and LoveFilm apps make use of them, according to Ofcom.
Of the 55 per cent of UK homes with games consoles, just 16 per cent make use of catch-up TV services with just 7 per cent claiming to watch live TV via their console.
14 per cent used their games console as a secondary web browser and 10 per cent used their machine to watch video clips on services like YouTube. Note that the Xbox 360 currently doesn’t have a web browser and YouTube on the Wii isn’t that easy to use or great.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, most console owners use their machine to play games online (27 per cent) with about the same number watching DVDs or Blu-rays (26 per cent).
This makes us wonder how savvy Now TV’s move to limit HD streams to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 apps was. The onset of things like Microsoft’s SmartGlass and related second screen apps might shake things up in this department.
Generally year-on-year figures are up, albeit by not much. More people are using their games consoles for smart TV functions than last year, but we’ve a hunch that for the most part they’ll be using them to play games.
Do you or would you watch TV through your console? Are you a Sky+ HD subscriber and if so, do you use your Xbox 360 as a Sky Multiroom box? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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