The forecast: In 2021, US Roku monthly users will increase by 11.5%, reaching 111.7 million monthly users. With these figures, Roku maintains its position as the most-used connected TV (CTV) device in the US market, though Amazon Fire TV is catching up.

Amazon’s new smart TVs will disrupt both the connected TV (CTV) and TV measurement industries: Amazon Fire TV is already a major player, but its new CTV lines will let it take advantage of the ongoing fracturing of TV measurement.

The service was not initially available on Roku and Amazon Fire TV, the two most popular connected TV (CTV) viewing platforms. These days, HBO Max is widely available, including on Roku and Fire TV. And now that HBO Max has been out for more than a year, we also have clearer numbers from the company about how well the service is doing at adding subscribers.

In North America, TV is the dominant screen for viewing OTT video content, accounting for 82% of time spent on the activity in Q2 2021.

The main variants include several models of Fire TV sticks that plug directly into the TV via an HDMI port and come with a remote; the Fire TV Cube that also includes a speaker and hands-free connection for TV controls and interacting with Alexa; and smart TVs and sound bars that include the Fire TV operating system.

The service was not initially available on Roku and Amazon Fire TV, the two most popular CTV viewing platforms. These days, HBO Max is widely available, including on Roku and Fire TV. And now that HBO Max has been out for more than a year, we also have clearer numbers from the company about how well the service is doing in adding subscribers.

It took a few months for NBCUniversal’s Peacock to become available on Roku, and it still isn’t on Amazon Fire TV. HBO Max announced that it would become available on Amazon Fire TV in November and on Roku in December. Ordinary viewers who don’t follow the digital video business regularly might get confused whenever they hear about a streaming service but cannot access it on their CTV device.

This year, its US audience will also boast 72.7 million monthly Fire TV users, who are using Amazon’s CTV operating system to watch on devices including Fire TV Sticks and other manufacturers’ smart TVs, and 41.5 million monthly viewers of Twitch.

When broken out by operating system, Roku and Amazon Fire TV are the most popular CTV products. Roku will have 100.2 million users, and Fire TV will have 72.7 million. It’s worth calling out that people can use multiple devices, and it isn’t unusual for a single household to have multiple TVs in their home or to use both a Roku and Fire TV. There is also overlap in our smart TV figures.

Amazon Fire TV Omni Series. The company’s first-ever line of full-screen TVs will be available in late October. Even without the fanfare of an official Q4 Prime Day, consumers anticipate ramping up their holiday spending early. A recent survey from Jungle Scout found that 31% of US consumers expected to start their holiday shopping in October or earlier, and 55% expected to start before Thanksgiving.

The company’s Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Newfronts presentation this year highlighted new shoppable video formats that allow viewers to add to cart, buy now, and so forth, by using their voice or an Amazon Fire TV remote to interact with the ads.

Amazon announced that it’s beta testing ads that will let viewers make direct purchases on IMDb TV, either through their Alexa or their Fire TV remote. Shoppable video ads aren’t new, but what’s exciting about Amazon’s announcement is that the ads are coming to the biggest screen in the house via Amazon Fire TVs.

When broken out by operating system (OS), Roku and Amazon Fire TV are the most popular CTV products. Roku will have 100.2 million users, and Fire TV will have 72.7 million. It’s worth calling out that people can own multiple devices, and it isn’t unusual for a single household to have a Roku and Fire TV.

The Fire TV Stick was discounted by 63% (after a 50% price cut the prior year), and the Echo Dot was slashed by 56% (following a 40% price cut). The Echo Dot gets much of the Prime Day fanfare, but the Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote is arguably more important.

eMarketer forecasting analyst Eric Haggstrom compares our forecasts of Amazon Fire TV and Roku users in the US.

eMarketer principal analyst Debra Aho Williamson and junior analyst at Insider Intelligence Blake Droesch discuss whether Tiktok will be banned or sold, and where user growth will come from. They then talk about Facebook's ad delivery algorithms, Twitter's healthy public discourse initiatives and Facebook Messenger's new social sharing feature.

Also, the Fire TV Stick 4K with Alexa Voice Remote was the top-selling item. Amazon uses Prime Day to manipulate the retail calendar. By deciding the date of Prime Day, Amazon can dictate the start of shopping seasons. Last year’s October Prime Day served as an early start to holiday shopping, while this year did the same for back-to-school shopping.