THE DIGITAL DOMAIN

Better picture quality remains most important attribute of digital TV service Advanced digital television services such as video-on-demand (VOD), personal video recorders/digital video recorders (PVRs/DVRs), and interactive television (iTV) – considered by some to be killer applications – have not yet hit the mainstream among Canadian digital TV subscribers and are ranked relatively low in importance, according to results from the 2005 wave of Decima Research Inc.’s syndicated consumer research study on digital TV services. Digital television subscribers rank Better picture quality; An on-screen, interactive "TV guide"; and The ability to "pick and pay" for individual TV channels as the top three most important digital TV services, benefits, or features evaluated. The low importance placed on VOD and PVRs/DVRs, for example, is likely the result of a lack of knowledge and understanding of exactly what these services are and what they can do. Unless TV subscribers have used or experienced these advanced services, they likely do not fully appreciate their benefits. That’s why marketing strategies such as offering free VOD content to get customers using VOD and offering PVR/DVR demonstrations in high traffic areas such as malls are key to increasing the penetration of these services and ultimately boosting their importance among digital TV subscribers and improving TV service providers’ value proposition to customers. In the 2005 survey, digital TV subscribers were asked, "How would you rate the importance of each of the following services, benefits, or features that may be provided by the digital TV service your household currently subscribes to?" Using a five-point scale from "extremely important" to "not at all important," digital TV subscribers were asked to rate a total of 16 services, benefits, or features. The table on page 7 shows the ranking of these results based on those digital subscribers who say these features are either "extremely important" or "very important" to them. For many of these digital TV services, benefits, or features a detailed explanation for that attribute was given so that Decima could more accurately gauge the importance subscribers place on it. For example, the Time-shifting feature included a definition that explained it more fully as the ability to watch the same show at various times from different time zones. In other cases, some examples were given so that respondents could more clearly understand the concepts. For example, Access to Premium Sports Packages such as NHL Centre Ice or NFL Sunday Ticket. The 2005 survey found that digital cable subscribers are more likely than satellite TV subscribers to rate The Ability to order movies or other types of programming through Video-on-Demand (34% vs. 19%) and Access to Pay-Per-View movies and events (40% vs. 28%) as more important. Conversely, satellite TV subscribers are more likely than digital cable subscribers to rate the Time-shifting feature as more important. Decima also asked analog TV subscribers who said they were likely to subscribe to a digital TV service within the next year to rate the importance of the 16 digital services, benefits, or features to their decision to subscribe to a digital television service. Digital TV intenders rank Better picture quality, Better sound quality, and Greater variety of programming packages as the top three most important digital TV services, benefits, or features in their decision to subscribe to a digital TV service. Not surprisingly, analog TV subscribers see the various digital TV attributes differently in terms of importance compared to digital TV subscribers, likely due to their lower knowledge levels and understanding of these attributes. HDTV, PVR/DVR confusion The survey also evaluated awareness and penetration of, likelihood to use or subscribe to, and interest in advanced services and features associated with digital TV service among digital television subscribers. These six include pay-per-view, VOD, SVOD movie services, PVRs/DVRs, HDTV, and iTV. Awareness of PPV is the highest among digital subscribers at 87% and it is also the service most used. Almost three-quarters (74%) of digital cable subscribers say they are aware of VOD, and usage continues to grow. While awareness of HDTV is relatively high, reported ownership of HDTV set-top boxes is skewing on the high side. Ownership of PVRs/DVRs is also over-reported by survey respondents. Our research shows that a high percentage of those who claim to have an HDTV or PVR/DVR digital box do not in fact have one when we analyze the make and model number of the boxes provided by respondents. Clearly, many digital TV subscribers are confused about what services they actual have. Decima Research’s THE DIGITAL DOMAIN: Consumer Attitudes on Digital Television Services, Benefits, and Features in Canada is an independent consumer research study undertaken on Canadian digital television services. The 2005 wave of the study is based on a national telephone survey of 2,000 adult Canadians who subscribe to a TV service conducted in March 2005. A survey of this size drawn from the population provides results accurate to within plus or minus 2.2%, 19 times out of 20. The above is the last of a series of articles from Mario Mota, VP Broadcast/Media Research at Decima Research, highlighting key findings from the 2005 wave of Decima’s comprehensive annual syndicated consumer research study on digital television services. For details about the research, contact Mario direct at (613) 751-5089 or by email at mmota@decima.com.

THE DIGITAL DOMAIN

News | 09/27/2005 4:00 am EDT

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