How to identify and appeal to viewers willing to gamble on new television programming – a different show concept, a niche cable channel, or new broadcast technology – is the focus of a recently released report, “What TV-Type Are You? A Segmentation Based on TV and Technology Beliefs.”
Authors of the report, Rockbridge Associates, Inc., a market research firm specializing in technology issues, classified TV viewers into segments based on their opinions and beliefs about television and technology. Using data from the National Technology Readiness Survey (NTRS), five segments were identified: TV Innovators, Convergence Viewers, Passive Viewers, Media Controllers and TV Skeptics. Each segment demonstrates distinctly different attitudes towards watching television and using technology; viewing behavior, program preferences and demographics also vary.
“The ever-changing technologies available for enhancing a consumers’ television viewing experience, combined with an ever-increasing mix of new shows and niche networks, causes a great deal of confusion among the majority of TV viewers,” said Charles Colby, president of Rockbridge. “When 70% of adults want good information on the content of TV programs so that they only watch what they are comfortable with, and 50% think that the number of choices on TV is overwhelming, then programmers need better information on viewer types and how to appeal to them.”
Continued Colby: “Networks, cable and satellite companies would greatly benefit from identifying the “innovators” who are the first to try TV technologies and new programming genres. Once this key group has been identified, highly targeted strategies can be developed to encourage those more involved viewers to influence the rest of the audience.”
The TV-types data was drawn from the NTRS, an annual survey conducted since 1999 to track technology usage and beliefs. Co-sponsored by Rockbridge (https://rockresearch.com) and the Center for e-Service at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, the study is based on a random sample of U.S. adults (18 years or older), and is administered by telephone. The sample size was 501 in December 2002. Statistical margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points for questions based on the full sample.
Media Contact: Myers Public Relations
703-471-2829
info@myerspr.com
Rockbridge Associates Contact: Charles Colby, Chief Methodologist and Founder
703-757-5213, x12
ccolby@rockresearch.com