Broadband More Important to Consumers Than HDTV

A recent survey conducted by Pike & Fischer Broadband Advisory Services has found that more consumers are interested in obtaining broadband services than digital phone service or an HDTV. If fact, the survey found that broadband services ranked as the number one “new” service on the lists of consumers.

In order to conduct the survey, Pike & Fischer polled a total of 280 consultants, executives, and engineers from a variety of different industries. These industries included those within the satellite television, cable, broadcast, phone, and technology equipment departments.

Those surveyed were asked to rank a variety of different advanced communication services on a scale of one to five, with the highest ranking being five. Approximately 40% of those surveyed gave broadband a ranking of five. On the other hand, only about 25% ranked HDTV in the same way, while digital phone service came in last place with less than 10% of those surveyed giving it a ranking of five.

Of course, this does not necessarily mean that these individuals do not want HDTV. After all, obtaining quality HDTV channels often relies upon having high broadband speeds. In addition, the results may have been different had the survey been conducted with a different demographic. Still, businesses would do well to keep the results of this survey in mind.

“This suggests to us that, while multichannel video providers may be spending a lot of their ad dollars promoting high-def channels and their ‘triple play’ bundles, they still rely n their broadband speeds to seal the deal with customers,” said Scott Sleek from the Pike & Fischer Broadband Advisory Services. “Everyone wants to claim that they offer the fastest Internet access and believe that will be more important to customers than how many HD channels they offer.”