Interactive television may get a boost in the states thanks to News Corp.'s recent acquisition of DirecTV, but those pushing iTV have a long road to travel in order to generate mass viewer interest in the technology, according to a recent survey by Ipsos-Insight.
One-half (50 percent) of Americans have heard of iTV, yet most people who are aware of the term do not know anything about it, the research firm said. Ipsos-Insight's survey also found that 11 percent of U.S. adults consider themselves somewhat or very familiar with iTV.
When asked how interested they are in specific iTV activities, the most popular response was the ability to control camera angles while watching sporting events, which interested about one-quarter (26 percent) of adults. Other activities include requesting product information or a brochure and the ability to get statistics on favorite sports players (19 percent and 18 percent, respectively).
"There has been so much industry hype about iTV, we expected higher levels of consumer awareness," said Lynne Bartos, a leader with Ipsos-Insight's cable, media and entertainment research division. "Only 11 percent familiarity is a surprising low percentage."
For more on the study, go to: http://www.ipsos-na.com/news/pressrelease.cfm?id=2011. Also, the Ipsos-Insight research on iTV will be in the January issue of The BRIDGE, out soon! (http://www.mbc-thebridge.com).
