Interest in subscribing to the new cable and satellite TV services was expressed by nearly 50% of respondents in a new study by Continental Research.
Of those questioned, 10% already subscribed to some of the services, and another 38% said that they were likely to subscribe at a price they could afford. This total of 48% compares with 43% expressing the same interest a year ago.
The survey, based on a sample of 1004 people and supplemented by interviews with a sample of 404 subscribers to cable or satellite, showed that aware- ness of cable (whilst still at a lowerlevel than for satellite) has risen sharply over the past twelve months.
67% of respondents said that they had not heard about cable TV, compared with 94% who had heard of the new television channels, but 65% (53% last year) said that they would prefer to receive via cable, whilst 17% (14%) said they would prefer a dish.
60% of those opting for a dish stated that it was the prospect of extra programme choice which attracted them to the new services . 36% of those opting for cable identified that cable offered more choice than a dish, whilst another 33% cited the extra choicegenerally. Of those respondents giving more specific answers, the movie channels were the greatest attraction, followed by sports.
The usual reason given for not subscribing was the expense (40% in relation to cable, 44% to dishes). The next two most popular reasons were that the respondents did not watch enough TV and were satisfied with what the terrestrial channels offered (27% and 25% respectively).
Asked about their attitudes to 16 different TV channels available on cable , the channels which non- subscribers thought they would mostenjoy were those which cable subscribers did most enjoy. The top five most appreciated channels were Discovery Channel, Sky Movies Plus, Sky News, The Movie Channel, CNN.
* Amongst 15-24 year olds, MTV is enjoyed most
* Amongst 25-34 year olds,film channels are enjoyed most
* Amongst 35-54 year olds, Discovery is enjoyed most
* Amongst ABs, news channels are enjoyed most
Continental Research: 071 490 5944
