Reality Television Programs are Especially Popular Among Video-on-Demand Users, According To Scarborough Research

Reality Television Programs are Especially Popular Among Video-on-Demand Users, According To Scarborough Research

NEW YORK, June 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Scarborough Research, the leading market research firm for identifying the shopping, media and lifestyle patterns of adults, released an analysis of video-on-demand (VOD) Users* - those consumers who live in households that used VOD during the past month. The analysis found that VOD Users are 27 percent more likely than all consumers to cite reality programs as a television genre that they typically watch. Nationally, seven percent of consumers live in a household that used VOD during the past month.

Music videos (VOD Users are 24 percent more likely to tune in to music videos), News magazines (22 percent more likely than all consumers to watch), science fiction (21 percent more likely) and dramas (18 percent more likely), round out the top television genres among VOD users as compared to the general population.

"Consumer usage of VOD services is gaining momentum across the country and marketers are seeking ways to use it to their advantage," said Carol Edwards, vice president, cable services, Scarborough Research and Arbitron Inc. "As VOD providers seek to broaden their distribution of services and present this as a new advertising platform, understanding VOD users' lifestyles, demographics, television viewing habits, and spending patterns, will enable them to enhance their offering for the consumer and for the advertiser."

Video-on-demand enables consumers to select and watch video content. Consumers can pause, start, stop, fast-forward, rewind, or play programs with similar functionality as they would with a DVD player or VCR. It is primarily available via cable systems. Both premium cable networks (HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, etc.) and basic cable networks are using VOD to expand their audience and provide the viewer more programming options and control.

Today's VOD Users hail from upscale, young families. According to the Scarborough analysis, VOD Users are 27 percent more likely than all consumers to be ages 18-24; 20 percent more likely to have two or more children in the household; and more than twice as likely as all consumers to have an annual household income of $150k+. VOD Users are 27 percent more likely than all consumers to be African-American.

VOD Users are avid consumers of entertainment and information technologies. VOD Users are 50 percent more likely than all consumers to spend 20 or more hours online weekly. They have high-speed Internet connections, and are more likely than all consumers to have a cable modem, DSL or wireless Internet connection. VOD Users are 38 percent more likely than all consumers nationally to have purchased something on the Internet in the past year. Thirty-nine percent of VOD Users use online services for travel reservations and 47 percent of VOD users use on-line services for news. VOD Users are almost three times as likely as all consumers to have purchased pay-per-view (PPV) five or more times during the past year.

When it comes to advertising categories, home improvement is a top category among VOD Users. Seventy-three percent of VOD Users live in a household that has bought hardware, building, paint, or lawn and garden items in the past year. They are 15 percent more likely than all consumers nationally to have spent $3,000 or more on all home improvements in the past year.

SOURCE: Scarborough Research, 2005, Scarborough USA+ (Release 2 2005).

About Scarborough Research

Scarborough Research (www.scarborough.com, info@scarborough.com) measures the lifestyle and shopping patterns, media behaviors, and demographics of American consumers. Products and services include local market consumer insight studies in 80 Top-Tier Markets (comprised of the Top Cities in the US) and 6 Mid-Tier Markets (comprised of smaller U.S. cities), Scarborough USA+ (a national database), Scarborough Multi-Market Database, Hispanic studies, customer relationship management and database integration solutions. With more than 30 years of experience, Scarborough measures more than 1,700 categories and serves a broad client base of more than 3,500 subscribers including marketers, advertising agencies, electronic and print media, broadcast and cable television, radio stations, sports teams and leagues, and out-of-home companies. Surveying more than 210,000 adults annually, Scarborough is a joint venture between Arbitron Inc. and VNU Media Measurement & Information.

Scarborough's Cable Services are sold and serviced by Arbitron Cable, a division of Arbitron, Inc. Nearly 200 cable networks, MSOs, interconnects and cable systems in the U.S. rely on the business solutions provided by Arbitron Cable.

* VOD Users are those consumers who live in households that used VOD

during the past 30 days.

Source: Scarborough Research

CONTACT: Allyson Mongrain of Scarborough Research, +1-703-451-3174,
amongrain@scarborough.com

Web site: http://www.scarborough.com/

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