Broadband News

Faster broadband won’t fuel online TV

Monday, 10 August 2009

Garnet Roach garnet@consumerchoices.co.uk

A faster broadband connection would make no difference to consumer online TV habits, according to a new survey.

The study found that 53 per cent of people would not watch more online TV or video clips even with a faster, more reliable broadband connection, questioning the idea that superfast broadband access would create an online TV boom.

29 per cent of the viewers surveyed by Deloitte and YouGov by the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival said that there was “little importance” in being able to watch TV online.

While younger viewers, aged 18 to 24, were more likely to watch TV over the internet, 43 per cent still said that a faster connection would not make them watch more internet TV.

"Stimulating investment in a next-generation broadband infrastructure for Britain has been at the heart of the Digital Britain debate," said James Bates, media and telecoms partner at Deloitte. "However, making high speed broadband access widely available to consumers is no guarantee that it will be taken up."

"In an ironic twist to earlier expectations, broadcasters and independent producers may, in the medium term, be those that benefit most from online television," he said. "Broadcasters may increasingly use online television to support their core, traditional objective of maximising broadcast audience size and quality."

Of those surveyed, 83 per cent were aware of the free TV catch-up services offered by the main players, such as the BBC iPlayer, ITV.com and Channel 4's 4oD.

Michael Phillips, BroadbandChoices.co.uk product director, said: “There has long been a debate about what people would actually do with a superfast broadband connection and it was hoped that online TV would rank highly on the list of possible applications.

“Yet despite this study, online catch-ups are very popular; since its launch in 2007 the BBC iPlayer has registered more than 500 million requests to view BBC programmes online and as connections do become faster and more stable, increasing numbers of people will also be able to download in HD,” he concluded.

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