Half of US households now stream video via services like Netflix, Amazon Video, and Hulu, matching the number of households with DVRs for the first time, according to the latest Nielsen report.

That milestone is thanks to a predictable trend: as online video services continue to expand content and improve streaming technologies, people are relying less on the DVRs they rent from cable companies.

US households aren't ditching their DVRs in droves, but overall they're not adding new ones, according to Nielsen. Fifty percent of households had DVRs in the first quarter of this year, a figure that has remained steady since the end of 2014. The number of households with streaming video, meanwhile, has grown 9 percent during that same period.

The rise of online video streaming even prompted Nielsen to make a change to its venerable TV ratings system earlier this year. It now reports viewing data broken down by the type of connected device. The company has also added a new ratings category, "Total Use of Television," which compares connected device usage to traditional television usage for a more accurate view of how Americans consume content.

Overall, 72 percent of homes have either a DVR or access to a streaming service, up from 67 percent last year, but hours spent on streaming and DVR content combined pale in comparison to live TV. The average adult spent just over 4.5 hours watching live TV in the first quarter of 2016.

That's down slightly from the same period a year ago, but it trounces DVR use (30 minutes per day) and has a significant lead over streaming on mobile, PCs, and connected devices like TVs or game consoles (just under 3.5 hours).