By the end of 2005 half of all UK households will have Digital TV (DTV) and more people will use interactive TV (iTV) to connect to the internet than PC’s, according to the latest Internet Audience Measurement report from Jupiter MMXI, released today.
The report shows that of the current 7 million homes that have DTV, 20% use email regularly – almost one third of BSkyB’s subscribers have registered for email accounts and 20% of Telewest customers also use email via DTV. Jupiter predicts this figure will increase significantly over the next 3 years.
UK analyst, Daniel Stevenson, said: “The popularity of email on interactive TV has been unexpected. As the number of DTV subscribers grows, a significant proportion of the UK population will experience the internet for the first time through their TV sets. The number of people connected to the internet will dramatically increase from the 15.2m at home users currently accessing the internet from a PC.”
Jupiter predicts that eventually penetration of digital TV will outstrip home PC’s with internet access. However, it is expected that the value of purchases made on the internet through a PC will far outstrip those made on interactive TV. By 2005, £25.5bn will be generated by ecommerce activities accessed via PCs compared to £3.2bn via interactive TV, says the report.
Jupiter put this difference down to the way in which people shop online. Higher cost items like holidays, cars and electronics will continue to be bought mainly after research via PC access. Lower cost ‘impulse’ purchases for items like CD’s and takeaways, are expected to prove big sellers through iTV, as per Domino’s successful pilot with Sky last year. Whilse less revenue will be generated from internet commerce on iTV than through the PC, DTV companies are forecast to have larger income from traditional advertising, subscriptions and per per view programmes.
Stevenson added: “Companies need to realise an internet strategy is no longer just about the web on a PC. Consumers will be using the internet through a variety of channels, including the TV. The internet customer will increasingly be looking for a trusted brand as their choice, whatever channel they choose.”
