Connected STB raises interest
March 23, 2009
Connected set-top boxes are growing in popularity, with 33 per cent of all U.S. broadband households interested in this platform, according to Parks Associates. The international research firm notes this news is good for service providers, which have this device at the core of their current service strategies.
“The cable providers have a unique challenge – continuing to innovate at the pace that consumers are adopting new forms of entertainment technologies that may not currently be available through their provider,” said Richard Bullwinkle, chief evangelist for Macrovision. “Many of the new technologies out in the market now have generated great interest, but for these emerging technologies to be a viable solution for the end consumer, they need to be deployed to the mass market – cable can provide this.”
“Up to seven per cent of broadband households are willing to pay three to six dollars more per month for a connected STB,” said Jayant Dasari, analyst with Parks. “They want to stream music, view photos, and watch Web video through their television, and carriers can capture that consumer interest by leveraging the set-top to deploy these services.