75% of UK 'want web-connected TVs'

Internet-connected TVs are wanted by the UK public
Internet-connected TVs are wanted by the UK public

A new survey by Entertainment Media Research has revealed that the interest of internet-connected TVs is bigger than ever.

The 2009 Digital Entertainment Survey found that, out of the 1,500 people asked, "75 per cent of people want to watch internet content on their living room television screens".

Our survey said…

It wasn't just 'the kids' who wanted internet piped to the TV, but those asked in the 45-54 year old age group wanted it too – with 77 per cent of males and 61 per cent of females interested.

"Internet on the main television is set to become a mass market reality within a short period," explained Russell Hart, Chief Executive of Entertainment Media Research.

"The speed of uptake from early adopters to mass market will be determined largely by the retail pricing of the next wave of consumer technology, installation simplicity and the effectiveness of communication to consumers."

On-demand lacks revenue

While it's great news that we have such a forward-thinking technologically savvy society, it was also found that most people aren't prepared to pay for on-demand content, unless it's of new movies, with 80 per cent of those asked saying they would pay for premium movies but not much else.

"What these findings demonstrate is that the real value in content lies not so much in what it is, as when and how it's delivered," said Alexander Ross, Music and Technology Partner at Wiggin, the specialist media lawyers who released the survey.

"Consumers clearly attach a premium to watching films at the moment of release, and no doubt that sense of value applies also to other media."

Marc Chacksfield

Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.