Fri, 04/09/2010 - 16:32 — Andrew
| Is the Internet Killing Cable TV? |
| Gone are the days of racing home for Must-See-TV. Now you can record shows, skip commercials, and watch TV online at home or on the go. But who’s watching TV on the Internet, you ask? Well, over 50% of the people we asked, that’s who. So, is it generational? What other factors play a role? And is the market listening?
In fact, the market is listening. At CES 2010, TVs with built-in Internet connectivity were on display at all the major TV manufacturers' pavilions. It’s a good thing, because there are millions of consumers who frequent Retrevo for the lowdown on HDTVs, and we’re witnessing a growing interest in TVs that connect. This Retrevo Gadgetology Report gives you a snapshot of online TV viewership and discovers what appears to be a trend toward Internet TV patronage. |
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| Younger Generations Are Flipping Fast |
| Whether it’s their proclivity for everything digital, or they’re just trying to save a buck, one thing is clear: young people have their eyeballs glued to the Internet. |
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 Men Are More Willing
to Commit
Are women taking over the TV or are men finding more of their favorite shows online? Either way, we found that almost twice as many men vs. women are watching TV on the Internet. |
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 Are Cable Providers Manufacturing Dissatisfaction?
Wallets are shrinking and people are looking for ways to save money. Customers could be just one bill hike shy from throwing in the towel on their cable or satellite service. More and more TV networks are hosting shows online these days; could this be the tipping point for the big “bye, bye” to cable? Or is programming playing a role? Well, 15% of our respondents said that higher prices would drive them to watch all of their shows on the Internet. |
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 People Love their HD, their Sports, and, of Course, their HBO
If HBO and Showtime start to host their top shows online, could it kick-start the decline of cable and satellite as we know it? That’s not all; a hefty number of respondents want live sports online as well, and even more people demand that everything be broadcast in HD. |
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| Conclusion |
| While the data presented is not enough to send the cable and satellite industry packing, it does suggest that online TV viewership is on the rise, and people are tired of high-priced programming. Although turning to the Internet for your favorite shows sounds like a great idea in theory, the reality is that most premium shows and live sports are not being placed online yet, if they will at all. And with the influx of High Definition devices on the market today, there’s no wonder why people won’t compromise when it comes to HD. Although younger generations and mostly males are embracing online shows, with the advent of Internet-capable TVs (starting to appear on the market) and the dissatisfaction with satellite and cable service (at least with the hefty monthly bills), we will likely see increasing attraction toward online offerings in the years to come. |
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| About Retrevo Pulse Report |
| The Retrevo Pulse Report is an ongoing study of people and electronics from the consumer electronics shopping and review site Retrevo.com. The data for this report came from a study of online individuals conducted by an independent panel, exclusively for Retrevo. The sample size was over 1,000 distributed across gender, age, income and location in the United States. Most responses have a confidence interval of 4% at a 95% confidence level. |
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For more information contact:
Jennifer Jacobson
Director of Public Relations
press "at" retrevo "dot" com
To Download Graphics for This Study Click Here
Please Note: Members of the press are welcome to write about these findings, so long as Retrevo.com is cited as the source.
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Comments
Tossed the TV
We used to be avid TV watchers but the bill was really starting to put a dent in our lifestyles. One day we finally sat down and figured out that what we were really watching amounted to less than 8 channels, yet we were paying close to $100.00 per month to subscribe. We further figured that with all of the annoying and unwanted advertising plugged into our favorite shows, we were probably really watching less than 4 hours a week of television worth watching. So we got rid of the TV. We haven't really missed it at all. There's so much to see and do on the internet. You can stay in touch with family and friends, play games, read up on things. You're not just some vegetable sitting there allowing the networks to stream all sorts of garbage into your brain. This is what we especially like about it.
don't forget OTA
The combination of Over The Air television and what is available free online should be enough for anyone with a life outside of the living room. I have an Acer Aspire Revo nettop box that has HDMI output hooked to my HDTV and $33/month DSL and can watch enough TV to keep me from going back to Comcast or any other cable/satellite provider for now.
Paying for Passion
HD is more involving, but cable (and Sat) don't provide HD anymore. Instead, I get two or more copies of the same content in SD and squashed ED - and that's just on 22 channel , $17/month basic cable. Comparing cable and OTA is like the difference between DVD and BluRay. I would gladly pay more for image quality, but that's harder to show in TV ads on low-def existing service.
Not only do I zap all advertising with my trusty TiVo XL, I have never bought a product I saw on Television in 35 years of watching! I even stopped watching TV for 18 years because the shows and ads were so stupid.
Yet TV production values today have gone past most movies, hiring stage actors and attracting the cream of producers (Glazer, Bruckheimer, Abrams). So who pays these people? As far as I'm concerned, entertainment is way down Maslow's list.
I give my money to Reed Hastings (founder of Netflix). He is going to replace TV and movie distribution. Ironic in the digital age that mailing data is faster than our crippled (in the US) internet. Ironic also that our superiority in wired phone, wired TV and broadcast networks put us behind on the next gen.
Cable has figured out how to charge for on line TV.
Comcast limits bandwith use to 250 GB per month. As long as you are connected to the internet you are using bandwidth. They even charge you for Bandwidth if you rent or watch vidieos from them. Other carriers like Verizon also have begun charging for excessive use. This will force people to use TIVO or use their own DVD-R to timeshift programs. Congress or thr FCC needs to address this as it is nothing but extorsion. You can get around this by subscribing to a Business Account which would increase your Monthly Bill by 300%, then there are no restrictions on Bandwidth. Many times there are 2 or more shows I like on at the same time so I like to watch them on my Computer. It's nice to be able to sit back on my recliner and send the Computer's output to a big screen TV. Will you ever see me at a Real Movie? Not in this lifetime. All these industries thrive on one word GREED.
Yes it sure is
well people want to watch what interest them not what media wanna show them at the time they want since after 11pm most TV station switch to paid programming and who wanna watch that so every thing become on demand i am waiting to see how long will take till you can actually watch an episode earlier then every one else by paying some extra money for it and will TV stations will provide a service like that it will be another race what do you think :)
Absolutely. PLUS, I don't
Absolutely. PLUS, I don't have to spend time explaining why two "older" adults are sitting side-by-side on matching bathtubs to watch a sunset to my pre-teen daughters. Nevermind explaining why "Bob" smiles so much! Having far shorter commercial breaks is a BIG plus. Instead of having to suffer thru 5-6 minutes of advertising for every 10-12 minutes of programming is another plus. My time is important too and having to be bombarded with advertising that I am not remotely interested in kills the whole viewing experience.
I will gladly pay more for faster broadband service to be able to watch Hulu or streaming NetFlix ANYTIME!!!!