Spotlight: Is The Interactive Television Buzz A Bust?

New York, NY - Interactive television (iTV) is available to millions of digital cable and satellite subscribers in the United States and, with Rupert Murdoch's recent acquisition of satellite giant, DIRECTV, many media executives expect iTV to play a key role in the next round of multi-channel competition. Despite this, a recent survey by Ipsos-Insight, the global survey-based marketing research firm, suggests that media giants have a long way to go in order to win subscribers' interest in iTV. One-half (50%) of Americans have heard of iTV, a two-way system where viewers can perform activities such as retrieve information, purchase products or play along with TV game shows using a remote or keyboard, yet most people who are aware of the term do not know anything about it. Ipsos-Insight's survey found that only 11% of U.S. adults consider themselves somewhat or very familiar with iTV. There were no differences in awareness by gender, age or geographic region, however affluent households ($100,000 +) are most likely to be aware of iTV. "There has been so much industry hype about iTV, we expected higher levels of consumer awareness," says Lynne Bartos, a leader with the company's Cable, Media and Entertainment research division. "Only 11% familiarity is a surprising low percentage." When asked how interested they are in specific iTV activities (regardless of their level of awareness), the most popular response was the ability to control different camera angles while watching sporting events, which interested about one-quarter (26%) of adults. The next most popular activities include requesting product information or a brochure and the ability to get statistics on favorite sports players while watching a sporting event (19% and 18%, respectively). Fifteen percent of survey respondents liked the idea of playing games against other viewers. The least popular activity was betting on horse races or other sports (5%). "For the iTV activities we asked about, our findings show that the 18 to 34 year-old male sports enthusiast is likely to be the earliest adopter," says Bartos. "Men were twice as interested as women in the sport-related features of iTV, and significantly more likely to be interested in gaming and betting activities." Among those who say they are familiar with interactive television, at least two-thirds of people consider the following activities as Interactive TV:

• Using video-on-demand
• Using an on-screen programming guide that allows you to scroll through the TV listings
• Using digital video recorders or DVR such as TIVO

In addition, about 6 in 10 people familiar with iTV associate it with:

• Requesting product information/brochure via the TV
• Buying products via TV
• Playing videogames through the TV

"iTV programmers and content providers still have some work to do to raise awareness levels, improve consumer understanding, and get consumers excited about the features and benefits of Interactive TV," added Bartos.

Awareness and Familiarity with iTV

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Very/Somewhat Interested in iTV Activity

[+] click to enlarge For more information, please contact: Lynne Bartos Cable, Media, Entertainment Research 312.665.0556 About Ipsos-Insight Ipsos-Insight is a member of the Ipsos Group, a leading global survey-based market research company. As the company's flagship marketing research division in the U.S., Ipsos-Insight provides custom and tracking research to domestic clients as well as U.S.-based multinationals. Ipsos-Insight specializes in research for the Consumer Products, Technology & Communications, Financial Services, and Health industries, to name a few. It also acts as the portal to other Ipsos specializations including advertising research, forecasting, modeling, global research, public opinion research, and customer loyalty research. Let Ipsos-Insight client service representatives help you access more than 4,000 Ipsos research professionals and field staff located coast-to-coast, and around the world. To learn more, visit: www.ipsos-insight.com. About Ipsos Ipsos is a leading global survey-based market research group, with revenues of 538.5 million euros in 2002. It offers a full suite of research services, guided by industry experts and bolstered by advanced analytics and methodologies in advertising, marketing, public opinion and customer loyalty research, as well as forecasting and modeling. Member companies also offer a full line of custom, syndicated, omnibus, panel, and online research products and services. To learn more, visit: www.ipsos.com. Ipsos is listed on the Euronext Paris Premier Marchй, and is part of the SBF 120 and Next Prime Indices as well as eligible to the Deferred Settlement System (SRD). Euroclear code 7329, Reuters ISOS.LN, Bloomberg IPS FP