When asked if their leased HD set-top is a waste of their hard-earned money, only 20 percent of pay-TV users polled by Leichtman Research said yes, while more than twice as many, 44 percent, disagreed.
This data seems to fly in the face of the consumerist message being delivered by the FCC, which has proposed new regulations to disrupt a pay-TV set-top leasing business it says rakes in $20 billion annually for the video industry.
Polling 1,206 adult consumers, Leichtman said that 42 percent agreed that HD set-tops from pay-TV companies "provide features and add value to the TV service," while 16 percent disagree.
Among those pay-TV customers who have three or more set-tops, 68 percent described themselves as "very satisfied" with their video provider. That satisfaction benchmark dropped to 54 percent for homes with one or two set-tops.
The survey used a 1-10 scale, with an "agree" response being determined by an individual marking boxes 8-10. Disagree would be 1-3.
Perhaps less insightful, Leichtman rolled data about connected TV usage into its survey. Leichtman said 65 percent of U.S homes have at least one TV connected to the Internet, up from 44 percent in 2013.
Among connected homes, 74 percent use more than one Internet connecting device — the average is 3.3 devices per connected home.
For more:
- read this Leichtman Research press release
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