New research on the public’s attitude to new services on the release of the digital dividend has found a demand for new standard definition services, but a lack of enthusiasm for mobile TV. There was also a mixed response for HD, though Ofcom acknowledges that this technology is in its infancy, representing just 2% of UK homes.
Ipsos MORI conducted 1,999 interviews on behalf of the regulator Ofcom, which had faced criticism over similar research conducted in 2006. Services were given a rating of their importance on a scale of one to ten for both the importance to the UK and personally.
Extra SD channels on Freeview scored 7 in terms of UK citizens, as did better mobile phone coverage and mobile broadband, though the personal rating was lower at 5.9% compared to 6.2 for the SD channels.
Extra SD channels on Freeview are relatively more important to users of Freeview with an HD Ready TV set, with 62% of this group ranking it in the top two.
Local TV on Freeview scored 6.8, Wireless Home Networks 6.6, HD on Freeview 6.5 and Mobile TV 5.1. The personal importance on mobile TV was ranked at just 3.3%.
