An online survey will be conducted in June among a sample of approximately 1,500 cable/DBS subscribers. The questionnaire would consist of the following:
- Aided awareness of digital basic networks.
- Five favorite digital basic cable networks.
- Whether ever watched specific digital basic networks.
- Satisfaction of digital basic networks – Respondents rate each channel viewed on the
scale “Very Satisfied,” “Fairly Satisfied,” “Not Very Satisfied,” or “Not At All Satisfied.” - Importance of digital basic networks – Respondents indicate whether a network is important
or unimportant to enjoyment of cable. - Perceived value of digital basic networks – Persons who ever watch, estimate the amount that a network would be worth, if it were sold by itself.
- Being a Must Have Network – Respondents rate each channel viewed on a scale of 1 to 5 where “5” means “it’s must have channel on your cable channel lineup and “1” means “it’s a channel not at all needed on your channel lineup”
- Likelihood to switch cable providers if important cable channels were dropped.
- Profile of Sample – Internet usage, usage of social media, viewership of TV on smartphone/tablet, viewership of streaming networks, interest in dropping cable TV, marital status, presence of teens or children, age, education, household income, MVPD of respondent.
The study measures over 40 digital basic networks.
Results are reported separately among age/sex groups, Comcast subscribers, Charter Spectrum subscribers,DBS subscribers, Telco TV subscribers, AT&T subscribers, heavy social media users,heavy streaming network viewers, viewers of TV on smartphone/ tablet, persons interested in dropping cable TV, and persons who would definitely switch cable provider if important channels were dropped.
Measures among total viewers are compared to those of major basic networks in the Beta Research Multichannel Subscriber Study – Evaluation of Basic Cable Networks.