Canadians On HDTV

Toronto, ON - According to a new Ipsos-Reid survey conducted on behalf of Astral Television Networks, 14% of Canadians have an HD ready television set. However, of the one in seven Canadians that have an HD ready television, just 40% have an HD set top box which allows them to receive HD television channels and HD broadcast programming in HD!

The picture quality, wide-screen format, and surround-sound experience of HDTV, or High Definition Television, are comparable to those of a movie theatre. HDTV delivers brilliant, high-resolution images in a wide-screen format that is up to 5 times clearer than standard-definition televisions. HDTV also provides CD-quality audio that is available in 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound.

Among those Canadians that have an HD ready set, but not the top box, 41% say they don't have the top box because there's not enough HD content currently available from broadcasters to make it worth their while.

The survey also finds that two in ten (19%) Canadians who don't have an HD ready TV plan to buy one. Some will buy an HD ready TV in the next six months (16%), but most will do so further down the road (30% in 6-12 months and 53% in more than a year from now).

Why aren't more Canadians planning to buy an HD ready TV? The cost of the sets (36%) and lack of awareness (15%) are the reasons most commonly cited by those who say they are not planning on buying and HD ready TV.

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/Astral Television Networks poll conducted from April 19th to April 21st, 2005. For the survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 1000 adult Canadians was interviewed by telephone. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 1773.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population: Those without an HD-ready television set (n=856, 1773.4%); those with an HD-ready television set (n=144, 1778.2%); those without an HD set top box (n=79, 17711.0%); those planning to buy an HD ready TV set (n=158, 1777.8%); and those not planning to buy an HD ready TV set (n=691, 1773.7%). These data were weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2001Census data.

One In Seven (14%) Have An HD Ready TV Set

One in seven (14%) Canadians have an HD ready television set. Conversely, 84% do not have an HD ready television set. Another 2% are don't know whether or not they have one.

• As one might expect, the likelihood of having an HD ready TV increases with annual household income: 6% of Canadians with an annual household income of less than $30,000 have an HD ready TV, 12% of those with $30,000-$59,999 have one, and 20% of those with $60,000 or greater have an HD ready TV.

But Just 40% Of Them Have The Top Box To Receive HDTV Channels

Of the one in seven Canadians that have an HD ready television, just 40% have an HD set top box which allows them to receive HD television channels and HD broadcast programming in HD. Just over half (54%) do not have the top box and 6% aren't sure if they have it.

When asked which of a list of three reasons best describes why they don't have an HD set top box, 41% of Canadians that have an HD ready set but not the top box, say they don't have the top box because there's not enough HD content currently available from broadcasters to make it worth their while; 19% say they're only interested in watching DVDs in HD; and 16% didn't know they needed one. Another 23% offer some other reason and 1% don't know why they don't have one.

Two In Ten (19%) Without An HD Ready TV Plan To Buy One

Among those that do not have an HD ready television, 19% say they plan to buy one. In contrast, 81% of those without an HD ready TV do not plan to buy one. Another 1% is unsure of whether or not they will purchase an HD ready TV.

• Those without an HD ready TV who are 18-54 years of age are more likely than those who are older to say they plan on buying an HD ready TV (22% vs. 10%).

• Men without an HD ready TV are more likely than women without to say they plan on buying one (24% vs. 14%).

• Unsurprisingly, those Canadians without an HD ready TV whose annual household income is $60,000 or greater are more likely than those with less to say they are planning to buy one (27% vs. 14%).

Among those who say they plan to buy an HD ready TV, 10% say they will buy it in the next three months, 6% plan to buy it in three to six months, 30% will buy it in six months to a year from now, and 53% will buy it in more than a year from now. Another 1% don't know when they plan to buy one.

When asked which of a list of three reasons best describe why they are not planning to buy an HD ready TV set, 36% of those not planning to buy one say it's because of the cost of the television sets, 15% say they still don't know enough about HDTV, and 7% say it's because there's not enough HD content currently available from broadcasters to make it worth their while. Another 3% volunteered that they don't watch enough TV to get one, 3% volunteered that they're simply not interested, 3% volunteered that they are satisfied with their current TV, and 28% offered some other response. The remaining 8% don't know why they aren't planning to buy and HD ready TV set.

• Women who aren't planning on buying an HD ready TV are more likely than men who aren't planning to do so to say it's because of the cost (42% vs. 27%), while men are more likely than women to say it's because there's not enough HD content currently available (12% vs. 4%).

Please open the attached PDFs to view the factum and detailed tables.

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For more information on this news release, please contact:

John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900