Digital media players like Roku or Google’s Chromecast are often portrayed as full-on pay TV slayers allowing subscribers to slice the cord for good or just never take up video service from a “traditional” provider in the first place. However, some newly released research indicates that’s probably only part of the picture.

“The Home Technology Monitor” report from GfK – which focuses on Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast, and Amazon’s Fire TV − says 64 percent of digital media player owners surveyed indicated that at least one of their players is connected to a TV that also has traditional pay TV service. Additionally, the research shows 27 percent of owners who responded said they had two or more of the players. The research is based on interviews with 804 owners of at least one of the four devices, with 200-plus active users for each brand of player, GfK reports.

David Tice, GfK SVP of media and entertainment at GfK, says his firm has seen connectivity and content viewing change dramatically over the last two years. “Once seen as simple enablers of cord cutting, digital media players have become TV service and viewing enhancers for consumers who apparently can never have too much content,” Tice observes. “Fire TV has kept the digital player market hot, creating fresh competition and interest from consumers, and we expect to see more growth as all the main players introduce improvements and new features.”

According to the report, owners of digital media players are now more likely to say they use the devices as an addition to regular TV services with 58 percent saying that in 2016, but only 45 percent for the same study in 2014.

Interestingly, the number of survey takers who view their digital players as replacement(s) for regular broadcasts has dropped from 40 percent to 29 percent in two years. GfK notes Fire TV is not included in its trend comparisons in the report because it was not measured in 2014.

In addition, less digital media player owners are reporting that having the devices led them to drop cable or satellite service, according to the research. The 2014 level of 17 percent reportedly went to 13 percent in this year’s survey. GfK says the levels of shaving pay TV service (reducing but not fully cutting) have remained basically constant since 2014.

GfK also notes there also seems to be some live TV viewing differences based on which type of product viewers use. Apple TV and Chromecast users contacted for the research say watching live TV (via cable, satellite, or over-the-air) is still their first choice when sitting down to view movies or TV in primetime. On the other side, Fire TV and Roku users say they turn to their digital media players first in primetime with live TV being their second choice, according to the research.