Research
About 87% of US adults in TV HHs are aware of HDTV, up from 80% 14 months earlier, a new CTAM "Pulse" study of 1,003 adults shows. Awareness among cable subs increased 5% to 88%. Even more heartening: 37% of consumers aware of HD said they are "very" or "somewhat" familiar with the tech. 48% of digital cable subs said the same, and 54% of broadband users reported familiarity. 73% of digital cable subs and 65% of broadband users say they would buy a digital or HD set if they thought it was reasonably priced and affordable to them. 48% of men and 35% of women think sports is the type of programming best shown in HD. Men ranked theatrical movies as 2nd (22%), while women favored police/western adventure (15%). — PC and broadband penetration is lower among Hispanics than the avg urban consumer, but interest in the technologies is high, Horowitz’s "Focus: Latino IV" study says. Only 11% of Spanish-dominant Latinos report having a broadband connection in the home (25% have some form of ‘Net access in the home) vs 32% for Latinos who speak English only or mostly English (58% have a ‘Net connection). 19% of Spanish-dominant Latinos say they plan to subscribe to ‘Net service within the year, compared to 13% among bilingual Latinos and 15% among English-oriented Latinos. Across all Latinos surveyed, 20% say they plan to subscribe to HSD shortly. — Premium channels were ranked as the most important in-room tech amenities (42%), besting high-speed Internet access (29%) in a survey of 1,037 hotel guests 18+. Decision Analyst conducted the study for HBO. 81% said they’ve watched HBO in their rooms, 45% had watched Showtime, Cinemax (25%), Starz (13%). Of those with children under 18, 84% said it’s important to have family friendly shows and 71% said they’d be interested in having HBO Family in their hotel rooms.