Many Canadians who purchase HD-ready TV sets don’t get HD programming: survey

LG Electronics Canada is planning online public awareness campaigns on high-definition (HD) after a survey it commissioned revealed that many Canadians who buy HD-ready sets aren’t actually receiving HD programming. About 16% of those responding to the national telephone survey already have HD-ready TV sets in their homes, but that doesn’t mean they are receiving HD programming. Currently, few programs are aired in HD in Canada (CCR, Feb. 14/05; Feb. 13/04), and consumers must purchase or rent a digital set-top box capable of receiving HD signals, and they have to subscribe to HD television services. The 16% figure is higher than the 10% of 12 million HDTV-ready televisions that Forrester Research estimates will be in U.S. homes by the end of 2005. "There is a large install base (of HD televisions in Canada), and yet not many people are subscribing, and there needs to be more knowledge given to consumers about exactly what’s needed to receive high-definition programming," LG Electronics Canada director Steve Preiner tells Canadian Communications Reports. "A lot of people who have high-definition capable TVs weren’t really sure if they were getting high-definition or not…In the end, I think what that told us was that people bought the TV with the high-definition capability as a sort of future purchase." He points out that 58% of people who have purchased an HD-ready TV set aren’t subscribing to HD television programming. Preiner says he doesn’t have raw numbers in terms of the total number of subscribers who have HD-ready TV sets and are receiving HD programming. He adds that the planned public awareness campaigns are only now "on the drawing board," but that micro sites will be set up on the Internet to deliver information to consumers sometime in 2005 as part of the company’s marketing plans. "It won’t be done in a sales pitch kind of way, but more in an information way so that consumers can become more educated. They can do their research online so that when they go into the store, they are already somewhat educated and they know some of the questions to ask rather than starting from scratch" he notes. "The consumer could become aware (of the micro sites) either from some in-store point-of-purchase material, or from from an ad they’ve seen." Preiner takes issue with the argument made by some broadcasters that the subscriber base isn’t large enough to justify producing a lot of HD programming. "There is a large install base of high-definition ready TVs out there, and therefore, the reason the people aren’t subscribing to the HD services is because they don’t feel that there’s enough content yet," states. He wants the CRTC, broadcasters and distributors to establish an industry-wide timetable with hard and fast deadlines for HDTV adoption. In Canada, the CRTC has adopted a market-based approach with no strict deadlines (CCR, June 7/01), but is encouraging broadcasters to ensure that two-thirds of their schedules are in HD by December 31, 2007. "As a manufacturer, there are a lot of things that we can do to try to educate consumers and add incentives for them to purchase HD-ready sets. But in the end, they are not going to do it unless they get the programming that they want," Preiner notes. "I think the key thing is the introduction of more and more HD programming. In Canada specifically, what we want to see is Canadian-produced high-definition programming." The survey, entitled Canadian High-Definition TV: Awareness and Adoption, also found that 21% of respondents who are aware of HDTV have already purchased an HDTV-ready television, and 80% of respondents who know about HDTV have at least some interest in purchasing one in the future. While awareness of HDTV in Canada is high, demographic and regional differences are large. Quebec residents demonstrated the lowest awareness level of HD, with 46% of respondents stating they had no awareness. In contrast, only 28% of respondents from Ontario claimed no awareness. Males are more likely to be aware of HDTV (74%) than females (53%). HDTV awareness is also higher in metropolitan areas than in rural regions. "One of the things (that the survey showed) is that if Canadians are still hesitant to some degree (about buying HD sets) because they don’t have the knowledge - they aren’t armed with enough knowledge to make a knowledgeable purchase - and then to buy HD (programming) from the providers as well," says Preiner. "It behooves us to start that educational process. We can offer the hardware, but if we’re not explaining it, then consumers are a bit overwhelmed, and I think that’s true of technology across the board." The survey was conducted by Decima Research on behalf of LG Electronics Canada between February 10 and February 13 through the Decima teleVox. Results from the survey are based on a sample of 1,018 adult Canadians and are accurate 19 times out of 20 to within plus or minus 3.1%, at the 95% confidence level. Decima Research is a sister company of Decima Reports, which publishes CCR.

Many Canadians who purchase HD-ready TV sets don’t get HD programming: survey

News | 03/11/2005 5:00 am EST

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