Recent research from Points North Group and Horowitz Associates found that consumers would rather have free on-demand TV programs with commercials than pay $1.99 for programs without spots. The numbers showed a greater than three-to-one margin. Sixty-two percent of those surveyed indicated they would prefer TV shows with spots while 17 percent would pay $1.99 for online, cable or satellite without commercials. That left 21 percent who were undecided on the matter. Among consumers that are between 18 and 35 years of age, 68 percent would opt for free, ad-supported content while 26 percent would chose to pay for the service and forgo ads with 5% of respondents undecided.*
Shoppers Evaluate Automobile Manufacturers’ Web Sites For Usefulness
The J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Manufacturer Web Site Evaluation Study(SM) — Wave 1 found Lexus.com to be the most useful automobile manufacturer Web site for new-vehicle shopping. The study is conducted two times per year with evaluations from new-vehicle shoppers who comment on four areas: appearance, speed, navigation and information/content. The last category is the most important to the shoppers and it involves vehicle features, specifications, images, configurators, payment calculators and dealer locations. On a 1,000 point scale, Lexus.com scored 874. 11,800 new-vehicle shoppers participated in the study and they are defined as consumers who would be in the market for a new vehicle within the next two years. Pontiac and Suzuki had the next highest sores of 864. Next was Hummer with 857 and then BMW with 856.
By 2010, U.S. Spending For Online Entertainment Expected To Grow 260%
Consumer spending in the U.S. for online entertainment like on-demand gaming, music and video services is expected to grow 260 percent in the next five years according to Digital Lifestyles: 2006 Outlook, from Parks Associates. From $2.4 billion in 2006, revenues are expected to reach nearly $9 billion by 2010. The increased revenues are driven by broadband usage and digital entertainment platform innovations. The number of consumer broadband subscribers worldwide should increase from 184 million last year to 360 million in 2010. The number of households using data networking equipment worldwide is expected to increase from about 82 million in 2005 to more than 135 million in 2010. Worldwide subscribers to IP multichannel video services (IPTV) is also expected to grow significantly from 5 million in 2005 to almost 70 million in 2010.*
Online Consumers Splitting Time Evenly Between Web and TV
The JupiterResearch report “U.S. Entertainment and Media Consumer Survey, 2005,” has found that the typical online consumer spends 14 hours a week online and the same amount of time watching television. The Internet is also displacing the use of other media like radio, magazines and books with the latter suffering the most. Thirty-seven percent of those online users who were surveyed say that their online activities lead to them spending less time reading books. Additionally, the research found that intensive online users are the most likely group to use advanced Internet technology like streaming radio.
* Center of Media Research newsletters
