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Profiles of Five TV Viewing Preference Segments

In a bygone era, live TV programming was the top television content source. Now, the availability of digital video recorders (DVRs), Pay-TV on-demand services, and online streaming video options has changed the viewer's preferences.

According to the latest market study by TDG, a growing number of TV viewers fall into segments inclined to first select a source other than live broadcast TV. The impact on the traditional broadcast television ecosystem has been significant.

To better understand this shifting behavior, TDG developed a quantitative framework based on consumer First Glance TV preferences among different television content sources, including live broadcast, DVR-recorded, on-demand, and online shows -- as well as physical discs such as DVD or Blu-ray.

Based on this analysis, TDG identified five key segments -- non-overlapping groups that exhibit unique TV source preferences. The dominant characteristics of each segment are as follows:


Black-Box Baulkers - strongly prefer live broadcast and on-demand content, but shy away from adding new ‘black boxes’ to the TV system, especially devices they have to connect and configure. If a service is fully integrated into their one-device, on-remote experience (e.g., PayTV on-demand) they will bite. If not, forget about it.

TV Traditionalists - prefer live broadcast programs and physical discs, but are much less likely than average viewers to subscribe to or use PayTV on-demand or other value-added services, much less to view DVR-recorded or online TV content. They want ‘regular’ TV and little more.

DVR Devotees - all members of this segment own a DVR and exhibit a uniquely strong initial preference for DVR-recorded content. Despite this penchant for recorded material, however, this segment has very little interest in on-demand content, regardless of source. Interestingly, they are more likely than other segments to subscribe to satellite PayTV versus cable.

Broadcast Castoffs - prefer DVR-recorded and Internet video for ‘First Glance’ TV viewing and have very little interest in live broadcast content. In fact, only 72 percent of this segment has access to live TV broadcasts on their TV. Similarly, they have absolutely no interest in PayTV on-demand services, be it free or transactional.

New Video Enthusiasts - the ‘Early Adopters’ group in this segmentation, they prefer Internet video, PayTV on-demand, and DVR-recorded material, and are less likely to turn to live TV or physical discs (more traditional TV content sources).

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