Accessibility and awareness of voice search for TV navigation is ticking up, but adoption is still lagging, as a sizable number of consumers with that capability still don’t use it, TiVo found in its Q4 2017 Online Video and Pay-TV Trends Report.

The study, based on a survey of 3,330 adults in the U.S. and Canada, found that 24.4% said they have voice search available to them, but just over half (13.9%) said they actually use it.

But some other results show that voice search continues to catch on, albeit at a slow pace.

RELATED: Machine Learning Holds Key to Scaling Up Comcast’s Voice Remote (subscription required)

Awareness is evidently up, as fewer consumers than last year (5.4%) said they were unsure if voice search was an option for them, while accessibility rose 4 percentage points quarter-versus-quarter, and 13.5 points over two years. About 20.2% without voice search said they’d like the ability to do so.

For Q4, 45.3% said they use a cable or satellite box or remote for voice search, ahead of other platforms – Amazon Fire TV (31.7%), Apple TV (18.1%), game consoles (17.7%), Roku (10.6%) and TiVo’s new Bolt Vox (1.5%). However, TiVo’s new device entrant saw the highest average of voice searches per week, at 8.6, ahead of Apple TV’s 7.6.

As for consumers who aren’t interested in voice search, 53.8% said it’s a “gimmick” with no real benefit, down 5% quarter-on-quarter, while 21.3% said they aren’t comfortable talking into a device to find something to watch on TV.

Though remotes with microphones are among the top ways people use voice search, a growing number of pay TV providers are starting to integrate that capability with smart speakers.

TiVo found that 21.5% of those surveyed owned a smart speaker, up 6.9% quarter-over-quarter. Amazon’s Alexa-powered Echo and Dot products combined for 57% of the market, ahead of Google Home’s 35.5%. Not factoring in yet was the Apple HomePod, which launched in February. Roku is also getting into the smart speaker game through a program for CE partners.

RELATED: Roku’s Platform Reaches Beyond the TV

Turning to SVOD, TiVo’s study found that 68.2% of respondents used such a service, up 4.6% quarter over quarter, and 12.8 percentage points over two years. Some 69.5% of them are “cord-cheaters” that have a pay TV service and complement it with one or more SVOD services.

Almost 39% said they spend $9 to $14 on SVOD services, while 13.7% spend $25 or more each month, up 5.5 percentage points year-on-year. Nearly half (48.1%) said they watch one to three hours of SVOD content per day.

The study also focused on a broader group of subscription video services that includes SVODs and virtual MVPDs. Netflix leads the way, with 54.8% of the surveyed group subscribing, versus Amazon Prime Video (25.6%), Hulu SVOD (16.7%), YouTube TV (8.5%), HBO Now (6.1%), Showtime (5.6%), Starz (5.2%), DirecTV Now (3.8%), CBS All Access (3.4%), Sling TV (2.4%), PlayStation Vue (2.3%), Hulu Live (2%) and fuboTV (0.8%).

In the study’s latest look at the cord-cutting trend, TiVo found that 85.2% take a pay TV service, but 18.9% cut service in the last 12 months. That latter number is at its lowest since the Q3 2016 survey results, but the number of consumers who have not had a cable or satellite TV service in for greater than 12 months rose 4.6% year-on-year.

That caused TiVo to wonder if consumers are cutting the cord and choosing not to resubscribe to cable because they’re not missing it. Notably, 7.3% said they plan to cut their pay TV service, a slight increase from the previous quarter.

RELATED: Cord-Cutters Not Returning to Pay TV: TiVo

Price remains the top reason (86.7%) for consumers to cancel pay TV service, the highest it’s been since TiVo introduced the question in Q3 2016. Use of a streaming service (39.7%) and use of an antenna (23%) rounded out the main three reasons.

For consumers without pay TV, 44.8% said they use an antenna, but that figure has basically flattened out over the past six quarter, TiVo found.

For Q4 2017, 63.5% of respondents have used one or more streaming devices in the last three months, an increase of 3.4 percentage points quarter over quarter, and 6.8 points year-on-year. Among those with streaming devices, just 14.2% use them to access their pay TV service, the study found.

Voice search capabilities are catching on in the pay TV and OTT video worlds, but the pace of consumer adoption could use a bit of a jolt, suggests a new TiVo study on video and pay TV trends.

TiVo, in a study of more than 3,000 adults in the U.S. and Canada, found that of the 20.4% of respondents who have access to voice search for video, just over half (11%) use the capability.

Growth in adoption was relatively flat year-on-year and quarter-over-quarter, but is still 6.6 percentage points from the study from two years ago, TiVo noted in its Q3 2017 Online Video and Pay-TV Trends Report.

About 21.1% said they don’t have voice search capability, but are interested in it.

Among those that do have it, 46.5% said they use a voice remote from a cable operator of satellite TV operator, versus 28.7% who use Amazon’s Fire TV platform, 19.6% who use an Apple TV/remote set-up, and 17.2% use a voice system that works with a game console.

“Pay-TV providers should take note of this trend: consumers are not only aware of voice search functionality, but now that they are accessing voice functionality already in their cars, mobile devices, streaming devices and smart home devices; they will soon be expecting it in their pay-TV offerings as well,” TiVo explained.

TiVo’s latest findings come soon after the company introduced its own lineup of “Vox”-branded products with voice search, and as pay TV operators such as Comcast and Dish Network deploy next-gen versions of their respective voice remotes. Of that group, Comcast has already deployed about 18 million voice remotes that work with its X1 platform.

RELATED: Comcast Launches New Voice Remote

TiVo’s study also found that those who do use a pay TV provider’s voice search technology, 88.5% use it on a weekly basis, and the largest subsection in that group (30.2%) conduct voice searches one to three times per week.

TiVo’s study also highlighted that cross-catalog search, a capability that enables access to traditional linear TV as well as sources of over-the-top content, has become increasingly important to consumers.

Over half (52.5%) of respondents would enjoy being able to conduct such searches, making it a “must-do” feature, TiVo noted in the study.

Pay TV providers are responding to this trend. Comcast, Layer3 TV and Dish Network, for example, have integrated select OTT TV services onto their respective set-top box platforms. TiVo, meanwhile, has been championing this idea for years, as it already provides access to a range of streaming services alongside digital cable services on its leased and retail devices.

More about TiVo’s study, including portions that touch on the growing cord-cutting trend and consumer desire for a la carte TV and skinny TV package bundling will be featured in the December 18 edition of Multichannel News and Broadcasting & Cable.

Hulu will head into the voice-based navigation and search mix this fall, when the OTT service extends support for Amazon’s Alexa platform.

RELATED: Fire TV Lights Up Far-Field Control

Once integration is complete, “You can ask your Alexa Voice Remote to find, launch, and control content on Hulu or pair your Fire TV to an Echo device to enjoy hands-free, far-field voice control to perform an array of actions on their TV including pause, rewind, fast-forward and start watching favorite titles and channels,” Richard Irving, VP of product at Hulu, explained in this blog post.

RELATED: Amazon Building New Fire TV Models: Report

At launch, Hulu’s integration will support voice commands such as, “Alexa, tune in Bravo,” and “Alexa, watch The Handmaid’s Tale,” and “Alexa, go back two minutes.”

Voice navigation is a small but growing trend. In Q2, 10.9% of consumers of a new TiVo video trends survey said they use voice search functionality to find something to watch on TV, and 19% of respondents said they want that capability. Voice search, TiVo concluded, “is a sticky feature capable of driving higher user engagement” while helping viewers find what content faster.

Hulu, which launched its live TV beta in May, has seen average daily sign-ups rise 98% since March, thanks in part to the popularity of  Hulu’s award-winning original series The Handmaid’s  Tale, Ben Smith, the company’s head of experience, told The Hollywood Reporter.

TiVo and Rovi completed their merger almost a year ago, but the companies are still combining and integrating technologies that entered from both sides.

Along those lines, TiVo has introduced the Personalized Content Discovery platform, a product that weaves in tech and product from Digitalsmiths (acquired by TiVo in 2014) and Veveo, a voice search startup acquired by Rovi in 2014.

RELATED: Rovi To Buy Video Voice Search Specialist Veveo For $62M

TiVo has “created one full stack from those products,” Pratik Patel, director of product management, advanced search and recommendations at TiVo, said.

He added that Digitalsmiths had added the concept of customization for search providers in the form of business rules that could, for example, enable search results to prioritize free VOD or transactional VOD options.  TiVo said the platform is capable of searching across content catalogs available to the consumer, including linear TV, VOD, and OTT fare.

To surface more content, the system also supports a conversational search approach that, for example, would pull results when a viewer tells it to “Show me something funny,” “Find movies with  Tom Hanks,” or ask it to locate nostalgic movies from the ‘80s or to find a specific football game that will be shown on TV.

TiVo said the resulting platform will enable video operators to integrate search, recommendations and analytics with voice.

TiVo hasn’t announced how the newly integrated platform will be introduced in its retail products as well as those that are distributed by TiVo’s MVPD partners. More detail is expected to be shared this fall.  In the meantime, ZatzNotFunny reported Monday that recent FCC filings alongside “industry chatter” indicate that TiVo is nearing the launch of a retail voice remote.  He had reported earlier that TiVo had also submitted some trademark requests for “Vox”-branded products that could potentially use voice search capabilities.

RELATED: TiVo May Soon Get Its Voice

Regardless of the exact timing, the move will enable TiVo to add a voice search function that’s already offered today from MVPDs such as Comcast (for X1), DirecTV and Dish Network, whose initial voice remote, launched last year, already uses TiVo/Rovi technology.

TiVo said it will help bring voice search to Sky Q, a next-gen box and video platform from the U.K.-based service provider.

TiVo said the capability will enable Sky Q customers to use natural language to search across linear TV and VOD.

The technology TiVo is supplying to Sky partly stems from Rovi’s $62 million acquisition of Veveo in 2014. Rovi and TiVo merged last fall. TiVo noted that the system to be used by Sky is built on TiVo’s knowledge graph engine.

RELATED: Dish Launches its Voice Remote

Sky Q is a new whole-home, multiscreen service that competes in the market with Virgin Media, the Liberty Global-owned cable operator that leans on TiVo’s software platform.

RELATED: Sky Meshes With Whole-Home Video

“With Sky Q, we continue to innovate and bring fantastic new features to our customers, who we know are watching more TV than ever before. We want to make it even faster and easier for them to search, discover and watch TV,” Luke Bradley-Jones, Sky’s brand director of TV and content products, said in a statement.

Entertainment consulting firm Accenture has been conducting its digital consumers survey for about a decade, but its 2017 edition was the first to include questions around artificial intelligence and technology. And the results were surprising to the company.

“There’s pretty intense interest in AI this year, and a year ago there wasn’t anyone talking about it,” said Charles Hartley, Accenture’s global media and analyst relations manager for communications, media and high-tech businesses. “Consumers aren’t intimidated by it at all, apparently. It’s a sobering message to human beings.”

The survey, which interviewed just under 26,000 consumers across 26 countries, found that 62% of people are comfortable with AI apps — like Amazon’s Alexa — responding to voice queries, even though only 4% of people actually eda standalone, digital, voice-enabled device (like the Amazon Echo or Google Home) at the end of 2016.

Nearly 90% of respondents said AI simply makes it easier to do things, and a third said they’re interested in using voice-enabled digital assistants available in smartphones.

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

Verizon has rolled out a new version of its authenticated Fios Mobile app that allows video subs to search for TV shows and movies with their voice.

The updated app, spotted by ZatzNotFunny, was launched May 11 for Verizon's Fios mobile app for Android and iOS devices. The new app also provides a “More Like This” TV and movies recommendation feature, refreshed keyword search and integrated Rotten Tomatoes ratings.

Verizon has yet to integrate voice search for its Fios TV remote control – something that Comcast now offers with X1 – but the telco is working on a next-gen video platform called “Mallard” that will use some of the OnCue technology Verizon acquired from Intel Media in 2014, according to Variety.  People familiar with Verizon’s original interest in OnCue said soon after the acquisition that a key strategic goal is to secure more control of the hardware and software products and tech roadmap that will underpin a next-gen IP video platform – something along the lines of what Comcast has accomplished with X1.

Verizon hasn’t commented on plans for the Mallard project, but Variety said the current plan is to start testing this summer and deploy it to one market by Q3 or Q4. Last month, Light Reading made note of a new IP client box for Verizon Fios making its way through the FCC.

Rovi Corp. and Nuance Communications have kicked off a joint initiative to build a speech-based, “conversational” entertainment discovery platform that will be offered to TV service providers around the globe.

Under the plan, Nuance’s Dragon TV voice recognition voice recognition, text-to-speech and voice biometrics systems will be integrated with Rovi’s cloud-based Conversation Services platform, which is powered by a “Knowledge Graph” that maintains semantic, real-time information on more than 100 million entertainment-related entities, including program titles, celebrity names, and brands.

Nuance said Dragon TV can be integrated on a remote, TV or set-top box, and supports more than 40 languages.

Rovi is showing off the new combo at the IBC show in Amsterdam.

The integration deal comes more than a year after Rovi put up $62 million to buy Veveo, a maker of a voice-based video personalized search platform.

“With so much content and so many channels to choose from, consumers want instantaneous and effortless access to their favorite video content,” said Scott Taylor, senior vice president of devices, Nuance Mobile, in a statement. “Voice transforms the content discovery experience by getting people directly to the entertainment they want in just a few words. And by integrating our TV-optimized voice capabilities with Rovi’s natural language search and discovery, service providers will be able to deliver an even more personalized experience for consumers.”

“As digital content choices continue to proliferate across various platforms, media and entertainment services are becoming increasingly competitive, and providers are seeking to enrich their offerings with features that bring the most relevant entertainment content straight to viewers,” said Michael Hawkey, the recently named senior vice president and general manager of discovery at Rovi. “Rovi’s initiative with Nuance is another step forward in driving innovation in entertainment discovery based on voice and natural conversation. Our integrated approach enables providers to quickly deploy advanced services that will further enhance a user’s entertainment experiences.”

Everyone knows what KISS stands for, right? Keep It Simple, Stupid.

But today, the home TV experience is anything but simple. Every possible digital provider is fighting to become the dominant player for the geography we used to call “TV."  The result?  TV today is complicated and confusing. It has become a major source of frustration to the consumer. And no wonder.

Turns out that in most American households only one – maybe two – people understand how to work the plethora of remote controls to connect their TV to their service provider’s STB-delivered programs; favorite gaming device; DVD,  Blu-ray or OTT device; mobile device; tablet; PC  or -- you fill in the blank. In short, while the number of content delivery devices in the home, and available content on these devices, has exploded during the last 15 years, the remote controls designed to operate them have not changed at all.

Have you looked at your remote controls lately? I’m willing to bet you’ll find that the top buttons are called “AUX” or “DVD” or “TV,” and “CBL” or “SAT.” These buttons only add to the confusion because consumers are generally required to hit multiple buttons just to get back to their service provider’s programming if they simply want to watch TV or a movie. If the wrong button is pushed the remote won’t control the content or the TV.

Many frustrated consumers have phoned their service provider’s call center because their system was “broken,” or insisted on a truck roll for an onsite technician to “fix” their problems, when the solution was as simple as turning on the set-top box or changing the input. Most consumers have begrudgingly accepted the idea that they must use different remote controls to operate each of the entertainment devices in their home. I have been in many homes where three and four different remotes are sitting on the coffee table for convenient access and daily use!

Service providers must reduce non-revenue-generating activities at their call centers related to customer service, field service and technical support. We know that reducing the complexity of the interaction between multiple users and multiple devices in the home is nothing less than a mandate toward this goal.

What we need is an innovative solution to this problem: to develop a friendlier way to remotely operate subscriber devices and access their content without breaking the bank on high-cost premises equipment.

You’d be surprised by how few people know that there are solutions that can do just that, and they already exist today. There are solutions that can simply, with one button press, tune any TV user back to their service provider’s programming from whatever else they or anyone in their household has been doing with the TV (like gaming, DVD watching, or streaming for example). The beauty of these solutions is that they enable a remote to set itself up automatically. No more punching in IR device codes or searching for them on the Internet or punching buttons and praying it works. Users connect the service provider’s box to the TV and it just works.

Once viewers can easily get access to their service provider’s content on their TV, the next big question is how to increase programming revenue.

The obvious answer is that if we reduce the complexities for discovering and navigating TV programming, it’s likely that consumers will be able to find and enjoy the content they want to watch, thereby greatly increasing the consumption of content per subscriber. Clearly, the most powerful tool at our disposal is voice activated search and control.

Comcast recently deployed one of the most exciting new remote controls to become widely available in the marketplace – the all new Xfinity Remote with voice search and control – the XR11. The remote accurately captures words spoken by any viewer, in any voice, and delivers the signal to the set-top box so the voice recognition engine can do its magic. With the Comcast active voice “say and play” technology, customers can easily discover any TV show, movie, topic or star they are interested in watching.

This milestone achievement in our industry reduces the frustrating and painstaking process of navigating VOD and EST content. With just a word, customers can quickly find exactly what they are looking for, resulting in a dramatically enhanced experience. And it’s no surprise that fast, easy and reliable access to the programming they want to see will likely result in significantly higher content consumption. You can bet that electronic sell-through revenue will soar.

Simpler controls to all devices combined with voice search is the major breakthrough that our industry and consumers needs at this time.

There’s no doubt that we’re at a tipping point in home entertainment – and it’ll be those who keep it simple that will come out on top.

Lou Hughes is executive vice president, Americas, at Universal Electronics, a Santa Ana, Calif.-based developer of wireless control technology for the connected home.

Nuance Communications said its Dragon TV platform is what’s powering voice recognition and voice search capabilities that are integrated with the latest Roku 3 streaming player model and the Roku mobile app for iOS and Android devices.

Roku rolled out voice-based search for new top-of-the-line Roku 3 models (which come with a new remote with a built-in microphone) in April, enabling users to sift for content based on titles, actors, directors and other categories across a mix of 17 sources spanning ad-supported, subscription, electronic sell-through/rental,  and authenticated streaming offerings, including Amazon Instant Video, Blockbuster On Demand, CinemaNow, Crackle, Fox Now, FX Now, HBO GO, Hulu Plus, M-GO, Nat Geo TV, Netflix, Time Warner Cable (the operator's authenticated TWC TV app), and VUDU, among others.

Roku’s new app for iOS and Android mobile devices also supports the new voice search feature.

“Voice makes it simple for consumers to get right to the content they want, quickly and easily," said Scott Taylor, SVP of mobile devices at Nuance, said in a statement. 

Roku, the maker of a platform for video streaming players and smart TVs, has rolled out a voice-based search feature for a new top-of-the-line Roku 3 model and its mobile applications, alongside other updates such as a “Roku Feed” that automatically keeps users apprised of the availability and pricing of new movies.  

Roku’s voice search capability can sift for content based on titles, actors, directors and other categories across a mix of 17 sources spanning ad-supported, subscription, electronic sell-through/rental,  and authenticated streaming offerings:  Acorn TV, Amazon Instant Video, Blockbuster On Demand, CinemaNow, Crackle, Fox Now, FX Now, HBO GO, Hulu Plus, M-GO, Nat Geo TV, Netflix, Popcornflix, Roku Recommends, SnagFilms, Time Warner Cable (the operator's authenticated TWC TV app), and VUDU.  

A new iteration of the $99.99 Roku 3 will come with a remote with a built-in microphone. Roku’s new app for iOS and Android mobile devices also supports the new voice search feature.  

By searching across such a wide group, the new voice-based search capability (which complements Roku’s text-based search), “presents an unbiased view of what consumers can watch, and where they can watch it,” Lloyd Clarke, director of product management at Roku, said.  

Roku, which has shipped more than 10 million devices in the U.S., has also added a way for users to search within the Roku Channel Store, which now features more than 2,000 channels/apps.  

A new Roku Feed is designed to help users “follow” movies that are still in theaters and alerts them when the flick becomes available through one of Roku’s streaming channels. Even after a new movie initially becomes available from a streaming source, the Roku Feed will keep it updated if the pricing changes or it becomes available from other OTT source.  

“Think of it as a search that keeps on searching,” Clarke said. While the initial version of Roku Feed focuses on “Movies Coming Soon,” “there’s a lot more we’re going to do with this [capability],” he added.  

Roku has begun to roll out the new features via a free platform update that will be delivered to players (models after 2011) and integrated Roku-powered smart TVs. Roku expects the deployment to be complete by the end of April. The new capabilities, including the Roku Feed, voice search and Channel Store search, are also supported in Roku’s new app release for iOS and Android.  

Roku today began rolling out the software update that delivers the new features to all current-generation* Roku players and Roku TV models. The roll out is expected to be completed by the end of April.   Among other updated, the company is also introducing an upgraded version of the Roku 2, which sells for $69.99 and is now based on the same system that powers the Roku 3, but comes with a more basic remote control.  Roku still sells the Roku 1, a model that includes composite cables for older TVs, and the HDMI-connected Roku Streaming Stick for $49.99 each.  

Roku is launching the new features and updates as competition in the streaming device sector continues to heat up. Amazon features voice-based search, albeit for a smaller number of OTT sources, for its Fire TV lineup. Apple, meanwhile, recently dropped the price of the Apple TV (from $99 to $69) ahead of its temporary exclusive on HBO Now, the premium programmer’s coming stand-alone OTT service.

Voice search, while still a differentiator of sorts, is expected to become table stakes soon enough for OTT players as well as MVPDs.  Among that latter group, Comcast, for example, is closing in on the launch of a new voice-capable remote, called the XR11, for its IP-capable X1 platform.