TORONTO – While consumers continue to buy high definition television sets in growing numbers, they still need an education on the final piece of the puzzle required before they can take in all the HD channels on offer: an HDTV decoder from their cable or satellite company.
The Cable Telecommunications Association for Marketing of Canada (CTAM Canada) funded another round of research into the usage and adoption of HDTV in Canada and as expected, HDTV ownership has increased, though awareness of the need for a HD-enabled set-top is still very low.
In a study conducted by Charlton Strategic Research on behalf of CTAM Canada in July 2007, 8% of Canadian adults claimed to have high definition television (i.e. own an HDTV set and have an HDTV set-top box or receiver), a significant increase from 5% in July 2006.
Despite the increase in HDTV ownership, many Canadian consumers remain unaware of the features and benefits of HDTV. Fewer than half of Canadians (43%) are aware that they need a set-top box or receiver attached to their HDTV set to see the benefit of a program broadcast in high definition.
Even though one-third of digital cable (33%) and satellite (35%) subscribers say they have an HDTV set at home, only 25% of digital cable subscribers and 15% of satellite subscribers report that they also have the HDTV set-top box or receiver required to receive true high definition picture quality.
“Not surprisingly,” reads the release, “having access to HDTV programming appears to have a positive impact on the experience of watching TV: Three-quarters of Canadians who have access to HDTV programming say that it has improved their experience of watching TV a great deal (31%) or somewhat (44%). Currently, 40% of those who have access to HDTV programming say that ‘all’ or ‘most’ of the television programming they watch is in high definition. It is reasonable to expect this number to increase as more programming is available in HD.”
“Clearly more education needs to be done by the industry to increase the awareness of the need for an HD-enabled set-top in order to fully benefit from the improved picture quality of the new HDTV sets being purchased by Canadian consumers this holiday season” said John Piercy, president of CTAM Canada and president of Mountain Cablevision, Hamilton.
“There is a need to work together in partnership with the retailers who sell the HDTVs to ensure that purchasers of these new television sets are aware of what is needed to get the full HD experience they are expecting.”
CTAM Canada members will receive the full report in the mail.
With over 300 members and growing, CTAM Canada is an association dedicated to the discipline of marketing cable, telecom and new media industries through the delivery of educational events, workshops, initiatives, communications and ideas.
