ALPHARETTA, GA.— American
consumers are on the fence about their
desire for a free or subscription-based
Mobile DTV service that delivers content
to handheld and in-vehicle tuners
even when the tuner is in motion, an online
survey by MarketSource found.
MarketSource, a market research company
and provider of integrated sales
and market services, conducted the nationwide
online survey exclusively for
TWICE. The company compiled responses
from 387 adults, yielding a sample
size considered statistically robust
to provide a significance level of +5 at a
95 percent confidence interval, Market-
Source said.
A total of 24 percent of surveyed adults
who don’t own a Mobile DTV product
said they would definitely or likely buy
a Mobile DTV that receives free content
from local TV stations, according
to the survey. The Mobile DTV product
could be a dedicated handheld, tunerequipped
cellphone, tuner-equipped portable
DVD player, or installed in-vehicle
car TV system.
A total of 16 percent of surveyed adults
who don’t own a Mobile DTV tuner
said they would definitely or likely buy a
Mobile DTV tuner that receives a subscription-
based service. The type of tuner
could be any of the above as well as an add-on tuner, like one planned by the
FLO TV subscription service, that turns
a smartphone into a Mobile DTV tuner.
On a scale of one to five, with five indicating
a definite intent to buy, consumers
on average expressed a 2.4 interest level
in Mobile DTV products that receive
free content, MarketSource found. Interest
levels slipped to an average 2.2 for
subscription-based products. A rating of
two represents an unlikely intent to buy.
A rating of three indicates the respondent
is neither likely nor unlikely to buy.
Also found in the survey:
• Portable handheld solutions such
as dedicated handheld tuners, tunerequipped
portable DVD players, and
adapters that turn smartphones into mobile
TVs are in higher demand than installed
in-vehicle tuners.
• Perhaps not surprisingly, more people
are likely to buy a Mobile DTV product
that receives free local-station broadcasts
instead of national TV channels
frequently available through cable and
satellite-TV operators.
• On average, consumers will pay slightly more when a Mobile DTV product
is offered with free local-TV service
than with a subscription service.
In measuring overall demand, Market-
Source found that demand for all types
of Mobile DTV products is higher for
free-TV versions. Thirty-three percent
of surveyed consumers, for example, said
they would definitely or likely buy a portable
DVD player with embedded free-
TV tuner, while only 15 percent said the
same for a portable DVD player with subscription-
TV tuner. The difference in demand
is lower for other types of Mobile
DTV products. For handheld
DTVs, for example, 16 percent of the
surveyed consumers said they would definitely or likely but a handheld model that
receives free broadcasts, while only 11 percent
said they’d definitely or likely buy a
subscription-based handheld TV.
In measuring demand by price point,
MarketSource found that for a dedicated
handheld TV that receives free TV
broadcasts, the sweet spot is $99 to $149.
Of consumers who said they will likely or
defi nitely purchase a dedicated handheld
TV or who are neither likely nor unlikely
to buy one (neutral), 65 percent would
pay from $99 to $149. A total
of 57 percent of likely/definitely/neutral
adults would be willing to pay $99 to
$149 for a cellphone with embedded free-
DTV TV tuner.
For an installed in-vehicle tuner that
receives free broadcasts, the sweet spot
is $399 to $499. Forty-three percent of
consumers who said they would definitely
or likely buy such a product or
who were neutral said they would pay
$399 to $499 for a tuner that connects
to an existing in-vehicle video system.
Still, 48 percent thought any price at
$399 and up was too high.
For a complete in-vehicle video system
with included free-TV tuner, 21 percent
of likely/definitely/neutral consumers
said they’d be willing to pay $999, but
66 percent thought any price at that level
or above is too high.
For products receiving subscription
broadcasts, 63 percent of
consumers would pay from $99 to $149
for a dedicated handheld TV. Again,
that percentage is based on consumers
who would definitely or likely buy such a
product or who were neutral.
Almost three-fourths of consumers
who said they would definitely or likely
buy a cellphone with embedded subscription-
DTV tuner, or who were neutral,
said they would pay $99 to $199 for
the product. Forty-six percent of definitely/
likely/neutral consumers would pay $399 to $499 for an installed tuner that
connects to an existing in-vehicle A/V
system, though 42 percent said any price
from $399 on up is too high. Only 20 percent
would pay $999 for a complete invehicle
A/V system with Mobile DTV
tuner, with 65 percent saying any price
starting at $999 is too high for them.
As for what consumers would pay for a
subscription-based Mobile DTV service,
MarketSource found the most demand
is for a $5.99 monthly fee. Of consumers
who would definitely or likely buy a subscription-
based Mobile DTV, or who were
neutral, 48 percent said $5.99/month is a
good price to pay. Another 14 percent said
$9.99/month is the right price; 13 percent
said $14.99; and 25 percent said $19.99.
