Croatian viewers are demanding better quality television programmes and more free-to-air channels.
Recent research, commissioned by the Croatian Agency for the Electronic Media (AEM), showed that the level of public awareness about the benefits of digitisation is relatively low in the country. Despite the fact that almost everyone is familiar with the completed switchover from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting (in 2010); the research indicated that 37% of respondents believe they are not sufficiently informed about the digital broadcasting.
The CATI methodology based research was conducted by Ipsos Puls in December 2012 on the national representative sample of more than a thousand Croatian inhabitants. Carried out under the umbrella of the SEE Digi.TV project, the survey was financed through the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA).
Many respondents indicated low-level of satisfaction regarding quality and quantity of FTA channels. More than half of respondents were satisfied with the quality, and another good half with the amount of the television channels, but nearly a third of respondents were satisfied neither with quality nor quantity of free channels.
The research showed that most viewers miss documentary, educational and other public interest programming, as well as movies, sports and entertainment. The research revealed also a modest penetration of flat television screens (plasma, LCD, LED) in Croatian households, with no less than 66% households still using television sets with older types of screen (CRT).
