TELEVISION VIEWERS seem to want their cake and want to eat it too.
According to a new study by In-Stat, consumers want Internet TV, but rather than a substitute for traditional pay TV services, they’d like their over-the-top (OTT) Internet video to complement their traditional TV offerings.
In the multi-client research study OTT Video Platforms, Devices, and Consumer Expectations, the market research firm found that 26% of U.S. consumer respondents reported viewing Internet TV more than once per week. It also determined that while PCs remain the primary devices used for viewing Internet TV, consumers are increasingly using multiple devices, including Internet TVs, and mobile devices.
“Consumers want the best of both worlds: pay TV and over-the-top video,” said In-Stat analyst Keith Nissen, in the press release. “Nearly 40% of consumer broadband household respondents want a combination of linear TV and on-demand TV, and nearly three quarters want to acquire all their video content from their pay TV service provider.”
The study also found:
– Consumers use a variety of devices to get Internet video to their TVs, including PC-based media adapters, dedicated media adapters, gaming consoles, Blu-ray players, and Internet-enabled TVs.
– At the end of 2009, there were an estimated 24 million web-enabled devices in operation in the U.S. This is expected to grow to 102 million by 2013.
