In Prep for DTV, 5% Switch to Pay-TV

The transition to digital television (DTV) has directly impacted one-out-of-four (26%) U.S. TV households during the past year, as they bought a digital converter, a new television set or a pay-TV subscription, according to a recent survey conducted by research firm Knowledge Networks.

Knowledge Networks has been tracking reaction to the digital transition since 2006. The new data, collected from February-April of this year, shows that, among TV households:

• 18% said they had bought a digital converter to adapt a standard definition set to receive digital signals;

• 8% bought a digital or HDTV set specifically in preparation for the transition; and

• 5% started a new subscription to a pay television service such as cable or satellite TV, also specifically in anticipation of the switch to digital.

(The numbers do not add up to 26% because there is some overlap among the groups.)

Also of note, awareness of the transition has increased to 91% of all TV homes, up from 85% in 2008, and 45% in 2007.

According to Nielsen, there are about 114 million U.S. TV households. Knowledge Networks surveyed 2,498 TV households nationwide via telephone, with a margin of error of 2% for questions asked of the total sample.

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