Price of US Pay TV critical
November 18, 2008
A study exploring consumer attitudes towards pay-TV services, with particular emphasis on consumer perceptions of telcos as providers of TV services, has found that price of service and discounts are particularly important for attracting new subscribers.
The Making TV Pay study marks the first survey to explore the mindset of pay-TV subscribers after the credit crunch has hit the US, and offers a glimpse into the impact of the current economic climate on the pay TV business.
“Pricing and discounts dominate the decision process for new customers. Features, content packages and HD are secondary decision drivers for new subscribers considering switching to a new provider,” said Adi Kishore, Heavy Reading senior analyst. “This would suggest that marketing campaigns without a discount kicker will not be effective in driving new subscriptions”.
The study also finds the following trends:
– Advanced applications (VOD, DVR, HD) are valued by subscribers but don’t appear to be attracting new subscribers to a provider.
– There does not appear to be a significant preference for any type of provider (cable/satellite/telco) when respondents consider switching providers.
– Satisfaction is fairly high across various measured parameters, but significantly lower when asked about price of the service.
– Churn appears to be slowing, with significant percentage of subscribers uninterested in switching providers.
….