UK LEADS US IN INTERACTIVE DIGITAL TV UPTAKE

THE UK is leading the US in acceptance of interactive services while maintaining a slim lead over the US in the overall take-up of digital TV, according to research conducted by Gallup for Pace Micro Technology.
In the UK, some 28 per cent of consumers now receive digital TV services compared with 24 per cent in the USA. This suggests that the UK is less than six months ahead of the US in terms of market penetration. However, the establishment of interactive services, and the readiness of the British consumer to use them, suggest that in this area the UK continues to develop rapidly and may still lead the USA by one to two years.
The Pace research also revealed a number of striking similarities and differences between UK and US consumer attitudes to pay-per-view and other television commerce services. Interest in pay-per-view services demonstrated the closest similarity in consumer opinions: in both countries, the most popular pay-per-view service is likely to be movies, selected by 75 per cent of US respondents and 71 per cent in the UK.
Andrew Wallace, Marketing Director for Pace, said: “Various flavours of video-on-demand have been launched in the USA and the UK. Pace research shows that these have achieved strikingly similar acceptance and that in both countries there is wide potential to expand pay-per-view in education, music, news and sports.” (CD)