33 Soundbar Statistics

by

These soundbar figures cover the measurement periods and populations identified in the available source material. Estimates, surveys and forecasts retain their reported scope.

Key Soundbar Statistics

The main findings are:

  • Consumer electronics in U.S. homes used 176 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2020 across 3.3 billion devices in 120 million homes.
  • Displays accounted for about 70 TWh, or 40%, of U.S. consumer-electronics energy use in 2020; televisions and monitors made up 94% of display-related use.
  • UK people watched an average of 4 hours 31 minutes of TV and video content at home per day in 2023, up 6 minutes or 2% from 2022 (2023 versus 2022; United Kingdom).
  • Among UK on-demand providers responding to Ofcom in 2024, 95.5% offered subtitles, up from 89.1% in 2023 (2024 versus 2023; United Kingdom responding ODPS providers).
  • WHO recommends limiting average listening exposure to below 80 dB when using an app to monitor sound level, and keeping device volume at no more than 60% of maximum (WHO guidance accessed 2026; Global guidance).
  • Consumer electronics represented 12% of U.S. residential electricity consumption in 2020, with an estimated energy cost of $23 billion, or $193 per household.
  • U.S. televisions used about 54 TWh in 2020, 50% more than in 2017, primarily because of increased usage (2020 compared with 2017).
  • TV sets accounted for 84% of TV and video content watched at home in the UK in 2023 (United Kingdom).
  • Among responding UK on-demand providers in 2024, 38.6% offered audio description, up from 32.1% in 2023 (2024 versus 2023; United Kingdom responding ODPS providers).
  • WHO’s safe-listening table gives up to 40 hours per week at 80 dB and 4 hours per week at 90 dB (WHO guidance accessed 2026; Global guidance).
  • The U.S. installed television base was estimated at 285 million sets in 2020, equal to 2.4 TVs per owner household.
  • In the first quarter of 2024, just under 50 million UK people aged 15 or older listened to radio weekly, the highest weekly listener count across all devices in 20 years (Q1 2024; United Kingdom, age 15+).
  • Among responding UK on-demand providers in 2024, 22.7% offered signing, compared with 22.6% in 2023 (2024 versus 2023; United Kingdom responding ODPS providers).
  • WHO’s safe-listening table gives 12 hours 30 minutes per week at 85 dB and 1 hour 15 minutes at 95 dB (WHO guidance accessed 2026; Global guidance).
  • In 2020, 90% of U.S. televisions were LCD or LED, the average screen was 42 inches, and 58% were smart- or connected-capable; 82% of those were enabled according to the survey.

Contents

Television and home-audio context

  • Consumer electronics in U.S. homes used 176 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2020 across 3.3 billion devices in 120 million homes.

(Display Energy Use in Homes:…)
* Consumer electronics represented 12% of U.S. residential electricity consumption in 2020, with an estimated energy cost of $23 billion, or $193 per household.

(Display Energy Use in Homes:…)

Energy-census estimate based on device models, public and industry data, targeted measurements, market research, and usage/ownership surveys.

Modelled energy and cost estimate; applies to consumer electronics broadly, not soundbars alone.

TV energy, ownership and usage in U.S. homes

  • Displays accounted for about 70 TWh, or 40%, of U.S. consumer-electronics energy use in 2020; televisions and monitors made up 94% of display-related use.

(Display Energy Use in Homes:…)
* U.S. televisions used about 54 TWh in 2020, 50% more than in 2017, primarily because of increased usage (2020 compared with 2017).

(Display Energy Use in Homes:…)
* The U.S. installed television base was estimated at 285 million sets in 2020, equal to 2.4 TVs per owner household.

(Display Energy Use in Homes:…)
* In 2020, 90% of U.S. televisions were LCD or LED, the average screen was 42 inches, and 58% were smart- or connected-capable; 82% of those were enabled according to the survey.

(Display Energy Use in Homes:…)
* Average active-mode TV power in U.S. homes was 81 watts in 2020, 27% below the 2005 peak (2020 versus 2005).

(Display Energy Use in Homes:…)
* Average U.S. TV on-time was 5.8 hours per day per set in 2020, versus 3.9 hours in 2017 (2020 versus 2017).

(Display Energy Use in Homes:…)
* Average primary-TV on-time in U.S. homes was 8.2 hours per day in 2020, compared with 6.1 hours per day in 2017 (2020 versus 2017).

(Display Energy Use in Homes:…)
* Average TV energy use was 188 kWh per set per year in 2020, and 92% of TV energy was consumed in on mode.

(Display Energy Use in Homes:…)
* Average LCD-TV power density fell 80% from 2005 to 2015, while the screen size of TV models grew 20% from 2010 to 2016 (2005–2015 and 2010–2016).

(Display Energy Use in Homes:…)
* Retail picture mode used about 1.3 times as much power as default mode on average in the measured LCD-TV data (TV models studied through 2015; United States model datasets).

(Display Energy Use in Homes:…)
* Passive standby power was below 1 watt for most TV models sold after 2008, while some quick-start active-standby models used more than 10 watts (Models sold after 2008; data through 2015; United States model datasets).

(Display Energy Use in Homes:…)

Display category includes televisions and monitors; it is not a soundbar-specific measure.

TV-only energy estimate; the report attributes the increase mainly to usage and does not isolate audio equipment.

Installed-base estimate, not annual sales and not soundbar ownership.

Installed-base averages and survey findings; connected capability and enabled status are TV measures, not soundbar measures.

Average installed-base TV power; does not include a soundbar or other external audio device.

Usage-survey estimate and self-reported on-time; COVID-19-era behavior may not represent a normal year.

Usage-survey estimate and self-reported on-time; it measures the primary TV, not soundbar use.

TV installed-base energy estimate; external audio devices are excluded.

Power-density averages are based on more than 9,000 TV models and are not sales-weighted; screen-size change covers model data, not household ownership.

Average model finding; actual draw depends on TV settings, lighting, technology, resolution and HDR, and it does not measure soundbars.

Model-level standby findings; active-standby behavior varies by product and these figures are not soundbar measurements.

UK television, radio and audio behavior

  • UK people watched an average of 4 hours 31 minutes of TV and video content at home per day in 2023, up 6 minutes or 2% from 2022 (2023 versus 2022; United Kingdom).

(Gen Z swerves traditional broadcast…)
* TV sets accounted for 84% of TV and video content watched at home in the UK in 2023 (United Kingdom).

(Gen Z swerves traditional broadcast…)
* In the first quarter of 2024, just under 50 million UK people aged 15 or older listened to radio weekly, the highest weekly listener count across all devices in 20 years (Q1 2024; United Kingdom, age 15+).

(Gen Z swerves traditional broadcast…)
* UK radio listening averaged 20.5 hours per week in Q1 2024 (United Kingdom).

(Gen Z swerves traditional broadcast…)
* In 2023, 70.4% of UK people aged 15 or older listened to commercial radio weekly, compared with 55.6% for BBC stations (United Kingdom, age 15+).

(Gen Z swerves traditional broadcast…)
* UK commercial-radio revenue rose 2% overall to £667 million in 2023 (United Kingdom).

(Gen Z swerves traditional broadcast…)
* Online radio represented 28% of all live-radio hours in the UK in 2023, mostly through smart speakers, and overtook analogue AM/FM for the first time (United Kingdom).

(Gen Z swerves traditional broadcast…)

Ofcom TV/video viewing measure; it does not identify whether audio came from TV speakers, soundbars or other systems.

Device-share measure for viewing, not soundbar adoption or audio-device share.

Radio reach across all devices; it is not a soundbar or TV-audio statistic.

Average radio listening, not listening through soundbars specifically.

Station-type weekly reach; categories can overlap because listeners may use both commercial and BBC stations.

Commercial radio industry revenue, not consumer spending on soundbars or home audio.

Live-radio platform share; smart-speaker attribution is broad and does not isolate soundbars.

Accessibility features relevant to TV audio

  • Among UK on-demand providers responding to Ofcom in 2024, 95.5% offered subtitles, up from 89.1% in 2023 (2024 versus 2023; United Kingdom responding ODPS providers).

(Television and on-demand programme services:…)
* Among responding UK on-demand providers in 2024, 38.6% offered audio description, up from 32.1% in 2023 (2024 versus 2023; United Kingdom responding ODPS providers).

(Television and on-demand programme services:…)
* Among responding UK on-demand providers in 2024, 22.7% offered signing, compared with 22.6% in 2023 (2024 versus 2023; United Kingdom responding ODPS providers).

(Television and on-demand programme services:…)
* For UK on-demand services that offered subtitles, 68.7% of programme hours carried subtitles in 2024, down from 83.3% in 2023 (2024 versus 2023; United Kingdom ODPS services offering subtitles).

(Television and on-demand programme services:…)
* Excluding Hotstar, 85.9% of UK on-demand programme hours carried subtitles in 2024 (United Kingdom ODPS, excluding Hotstar).

(Television and on-demand programme services:…)
* For UK on-demand services that offered audio description, 11.4% of programme hours carried it in 2024, versus 25.8% in 2023; excluding Hotstar, the 2024 figure was 20.7% (2024 versus 2023; United Kingdom ODPS services offering audio description).

(Television and on-demand programme services:…)
* For UK on-demand services offering signing, the share of programme hours with signing increased from 1.9% in 2023 to 3.2% in 2024 (2024 versus 2023; United Kingdom ODPS services offering signing).

(Television and on-demand programme services:…)
* In 2024, the share of responding UK on-demand providers carrying subtitles ranged from 88.9% on game consoles to 93.1% on connected TVs and 96.3% on mobile apps (United Kingdom responding ODPS providers).

(Television and on-demand programme services:…)

Provider response set can vary by year and the measure is voluntary; it is not a population estimate.

Provider response set can vary by year and the measure is voluntary; it is not a content-hours or population-use measure.

Provider response set can vary by year and the measure is voluntary.

Conditional denominator excludes services without subtitles; Ofcom says first-time Hotstar data disproportionately affected the result.

Exclusion is an Ofcom analytical adjustment; this remains a content-hours measure, not user uptake or soundbar performance.

Conditional content-hours measure; Hotstar inclusion materially affected the headline 2024 figure.

Conditional content-hours measure; Ofcom excluded Amazon because its data were presented in a different form.

Platform-specific provider measure; it does not measure subtitle use, audio quality or soundbar ownership.

Safe listening and hearing-risk context

  • WHO recommends limiting average listening exposure to below 80 dB when using an app to monitor sound level, and keeping device volume at no more than 60% of maximum (WHO guidance accessed 2026; Global guidance).

(Deafness and hearing loss: Safe…)
* WHO’s safe-listening table gives up to 40 hours per week at 80 dB and 4 hours per week at 90 dB (WHO guidance accessed 2026; Global guidance).

(Deafness and hearing loss: Safe…)
* WHO’s safe-listening table gives 12 hours 30 minutes per week at 85 dB and 1 hour 15 minutes at 95 dB (WHO guidance accessed 2026; Global guidance).

(Deafness and hearing loss: Safe…)
* WHO’s safe-listening table gives 20 minutes per week at 100 dB, 8 minutes at 105 dB, and 2.5 minutes at 110 dB (WHO guidance accessed 2026; Global guidance).

(Deafness and hearing loss: Safe…)
* A WHO systematic-review report estimated that 1.14 billion young people were at risk of developing hearing loss from recreational loud-sound exposure (Meta-analysis report published 2022; estimate reported in source; Young people in middle- and high-income countries represented in included studies).

(Prevalence and global estimates of…)

Public-health guidance, not a measured population behavior or soundbar performance result.

Exposure guideline, not an observed listening distribution; individual susceptibility and exposure patterns vary.

Exposure guideline, not an observed listening distribution.

The report says low-income countries were not included and that the estimate is an underestimation because overlap and some exposure settings could not be fully captured.

Table of contents