FourthWall Polls Interest in Interactive TV

New research conducted for FourthWall Media reveals that consumers are ready for their TV to do more, resulting in less reliance on their computers. The poll was conducted by Penn Schoen & Berland on April 28, 2010, with 500 online interviews among TV watchers 13-65 years old.

Key highlights of the survey include:

• Nearly 90 percent of TV watchers are interested in using interactive television applications.
• Over 70 percent of respondents indicated they would be more interested in watching commercials if they were interactive.
• Nearly a third of respondents indicated they would spend less time on their computers if interactive TV applications were available to them.
• 89 percent of TV watchers expressed interest in using interactive applications on their home televisions after reading descriptions of these services, with 48 percent saying they are "very interested."
• 66 percent of TV watchers, including 72 percent of females and 74 percent of those 13 to 20 years old, agree they would change the way they watch TV programming if they had access to interactive TV applications. For example, 34 percent say they would watch more television than they currently do if they had access to interactive applications. Teens and heavy TV viewers (those who watch 7 or more hours a day) are especially likely to increase their TV viewing (42 percent).
• 61 percent of TV viewers would prefer to submit votes for reality shows such as "American Idol" by using their standard remote control.  The next closest device came in at 21 percent.
• When given the option of looking up the phone number of a restaurant to make a dinner reservation, the Yellow Pages on TV app was selected by 37 percent of respondents, compared to 34 percent who preferred going online. Mobile search and the Yellow Pages book itself followed. Remarkably, using the Yellow Pages on TV application, to quickly find a merchant’s phone number beat all the options
• TV watchers responded most favorably to applications that provide a high level of convenience and personalized relevance. TV watchers were most interested in a weather application (52 percent very interested), followed by an application providing local news and information (47 percent very interested) and caller ID (44 percent very interested).
• 73 percent said they would be interested in an application that allows them to request additional information about a company or product after watching a commercial.