80% of Broadband Users Prefer Traditional Video Viewing

Parks Associates research finds 80 percent of broadband users in key European markets prefer traditional video viewing to online viewing. Depending on how you want to spin it, that is a glass half empty or half full. 

“Broadband has transformed video viewing habits in Western Europe, where over 20 percent of broadband households have watched a film or TV program online in the past six months,” say researchers at Parks Associates. 

European consumers are adopting online viewing habits with some reluctance, however, Parks Associates says. For all the countries surveyed, the U.K., Germany, Spain, Italy, and France, over 80 percent of broadband households prefer a more traditional option for viewing video, including going to the cinema or watching a DVD. 

Many consumers are watching video online only because of the availability of free content, both legitimate and illegitimate, the researchers note.