The final quarter of 2025 marked a significant turning point in the television landscape. As smart TV viewing time surged to a new high, driven by the relentless growth of streaming, a subtle but profound change was underway in how viewers engage with their favorite apps. The era of the "anchor app"– those long-standing, habitual services – has slowly given way to an audience increasingly eager for experimentation and diversification.
The latest insights from our Q4 2025 Market Trends Report saw total TV consumption peak, with average weekly viewing reaching a robust 22.1 hours per household, an increase of 1.5 hours year-over-year.
Some other key takeaways when we looked back at the quarter:
- Streaming platforms were the primary engine behind a surge in consumer viewing, adding 1.4 hours on average and accounting for a record high of nearly 60% of all TV viewing time. This has set the stage for viewers to explore a wider range of content.
- While the average streaming TV continued to use about 3.7 apps per month, the composition of that usage tells a story of changing habits. Throughout the quarter, the share of TVs using seven or more apps per month rose steadily, climbing from 12% in October to 15% in December.
- Anchor apps – those used during at least five of the last six months – saw their share of total engagement decline. In Q4 2025, anchor apps accounted for 59.7% of all apps used and 77.3% of total app viewing time. Conversely, we saw a record increase in engagement with “new” apps—those that hadn't been used in nine or more months. These fresh services accounted for a record 12% share of all apps used and 3.3% of total app viewing time.
The Inscape TV Market Trends Q4 2025 Report was generated using smart TV data from Incape’s panel of over 25 million opted-in devices* from October to December of 2025.
*active within the past 365 days
