The proportion of viewers with both a broadband connection and digital TV has grown from 22 percent in the fall of 2005 to over 30 percent this fall, and this segment is most likely to watch the top broadcast network programs, according to CBS Research.
In addition, this segment visits network television Web sites and is increasingly likely to stream clips and full episodes of network television programs on the Internet. Perhaps counter-intuitively, members of this segment are actually more engaged with network programming.
CBS has also determined that as more TV viewers become aware of the 2009 deadline for broadcasters to switch to full digital transmissions, the likelihood of them investing in new digital TV sets increases by 40 percent.
In other words, deadlines can work if people actually know about them.
CBS discovered that over half (56 percent) of those surveyed were aware that you could watch network television programs by streaming them over the Internet. Of those aware of this streaming option, 46 percent have already streamed at least one program. Of those not aware of this streaming option, when told which programs were available for streaming, 62 percent selected at least one of the 33 available programs that they probably would watch via streaming in the future.