More Americans Than Ever Are Watching TV Online, Report Says

More people than ever are watching TV on the Internet, according to a new report Wednesday, as online television rapidly establishes itself as part of Americans’ viewing habits.

Online viewing of broadcast shows from channels viewers subscribe to on their cable or satellite network increased 246 percent over the course of the last year, according to the state-of-the-industry report by Adobe. Examples of online viewing include HBO Go, Watch ESPN, Cartoon Network, as well as Comcast’s TV Go.

“More than one fifth of all pay-TV households in the U.S. now watch TV online across screens,” said Jeremy Helfand, an Adobe vice president. “With rapidly rising consumer expectations for TV across devices, the TV industry is moving through a rapid transformation and finding new ways to bring TV to whatever screen audiences want to watch.”

Mobile video viewing also increased dramatically, with Apple’s iOS apps now the leading access points for watching TV online with 43 percent of market share. Meanwhile, web browsers fell behind with a 36 percent market share compared to 47 percent a year ago.

The analysis looked at data from over 1,300 media and entertainment sites in 2013, and 1.3 billion TV Everywhere authentications, covering 99 percent of pay-TV households in the U.S.