18th May 2004 - Although media-savvy consumers still value traditional visual media experiences such as going to the cinema and purchasing DVDs, their apparent tendency to experiment could have a significant impact on the ways in which media vendors do business in the future, according to In-Stat/MDR (http://www.instat.com).

A survey performed by the high-tech market research firm finds that many media-savvy consumers (ie. those with a broadband connection) have used on-line movie download services, own a Personal Video Recorder, or have their personal computers connected to in-home networks. "Media-savvy consumers want what they want, when they want it, and are willing to experiment with new options as they become available," says Gerry Kaufhold, a Principal Analyst with In-Stat/MDR. "These consumers are continually feeling out new sources and opportunities, as well as re-evaluating the quality of their existing experiences, making themselves a moving target for those who wish to sell, rent, lease or otherwise profit from owning professional entertainment content."

In-Stat/MDR's survey also found the following:

• There is clearly a reduction in the number of subscriptions to premium TV services, such as HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, Starz-Encore, etc. The relatively strong rates of usage for Pay-Per-View and Video-On-Demand may indicate that survey respondents do not see the value proposition of having a short list of about 50 movies available in a monthly rotation.
  
  
• There is not doubt that media-savvy consumers, especially those in the upper range of annual household incomes, are tuning out network television programming. Nearly 30% of respondents reported watching less network TV programming this year than last.
  
  
• About 42% of respondents said that they would be willing to pay something to obtain network TV programming commercial-free. Half of these said they would pay $5.00 per month, or more, to obtain network programming commercial-free.
  
  
• A surprisingly large percentage of total respondents said that they had already burned a DVD on their own.
  

This Market Alert is drawn from the In-Stat/MDR report, "US Visual Entertainment Market And Survey Of Media Savvy Consumers", which presents a snap shot of the current state of the professional entertainment market, with data about US box office revenues, sales and rentals of DVDs and VHS tapes, Pay-Per-View, Video Games and Video-over-IP services. The report also presents in-depth data obtained from a detailed survey of 1,151 media savvy consumers. The 81 Tables provide answers to questions with details about gender, locale, and income level. The on-line version of the report provides access to all 91 tables in the report.

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