The shift is US consumer viewing patterns away from traditional TV towards online content was confirmed in two separate studies published this week.

Fiber to the Home (FTTH) Council Americas, an industry umbrella body, reported that the move towards obtaining content online was accelerating faster than previously thought, because of changes in the viewing habits of younger people.

It predicted that this would accelerate further as bandwidth and connectivity improves, alongside the wider availability of connected TVs and the arrival of better streaming to support HD and super HD video.

In a second study, eMarketer said the average US adult now spends more time accessing digital media than traditional TV – spending an average of five hours and nine minutes a day online or using other digital media, compared with four hours and 31 minutes watching TV.

The research suggests that the time US consumers now spend on digital media has exceeded the time they spend watching TV for the first time.

It says that the average daily time spent watching TV fell seven minutes from 2012, while the average time spent on digital screens increased by 16%, or 38 minutes.

FTTH’s research firm RVA LLC said that 40% of US consumers are now accessing at least some kind of video programming through OTT video services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon or iTunes. That figure increased to 70% for under-35s.