世論 What Japan Thinks

With the deadline for the digital terrestrial switchover getting ever closer – only 13 months until the 24th of July 2011 – rates of adoption are creeping up, according to this recent survey from goo Research and reported on by japan.internet.com into terrestrial digital television, the 14th time this regular survey has been conducted.

Demographics

Between the 10th and 12th of May 2010 1,084 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.0% of the sample were male, 16.3% in their teens, 17.7% in their twenties, 21.5% in their thirties, 16.2% in their forties, 15.9% in their fifties, and 12.0% aged sixty or older.

Coupled with the Eco Point system for rebates for buying digital televisions due to end in December of this year (it works out at about 20% off a Japanese brand 32″), surely the next couple of surveys will see the figure surpass 80%. I know I’m tempted to buy with my summer bonus.

As a cross-reference, I saw the government recently claiming that 83.8% of households were digital-ready, a figure that differs greatly from the numbers here. If you notice the wording, though, it implies that these households have at least one digital reception device, which would include One Seg mobile phones, but I hardly see them taking pride of place in one’s living room!

In Q2, I cannot really think why three people were satisfied with the copy protection on digital broadcasts. Perhaps the respondents has either worked on the specifications or were in the business of selling hacking software.

Research results

Q1: At home, which of the following kinds of broadcasts can you watch? (Sample size=1,084, multiple answer)

	Votes	Percentage
Terrestrial analogue	911	84.0%
Terrestrial digital	771	71.1%
BS digital	451	41.6%
One Seg	411	37.9%
BS analogue	310	28.6%
Cable television	273	25.2%
CS digital	143	13.2%
CS analogue	73	6.7%
IPTV	30	2.8%
Other	4	0.4%
Don’t have a television	12	1.1%

Last time the survey was conducted, the figure for terrestrial digital was 64.7%, so in just two months there has been a 6.4 percentage point jump.

Next, 447 people with terrestrial digital television reported being more satisfied than with analogue television. These 447 were asked the following.

Q2: Which aspects of terrestrial digital television are you satisfied with? (Sample size=447, multiple answer)

	Votes	Percentage
Picture quality	403	90.2%
Can get news, weather any time with data broadcasts	250	55.9%
EPG (Electronic Program Guide) is easy to use	212	47.4%
Sound quality	143	32.0%
Can watch without worry	131	29.3%
Taking part in interactive quizzes, questionnaires	59	13.2%
Subtitles	55	12.3%
Lots of channels	41	9.2%
Is well-protected from copying	3	0.7%
Other	4	0.9%

Finally, 525 people were watching digital terrestrial television, but it isn’t reported if this meant those who watched it exclusively, at least once every day or week, or whatever, although the question perhaps suggests exclusive watchers. That figure is 48.4% of the total sample, and they were asked the following.

Q3: How has the length of time watching television changed since you started watching terrestrial digital television? (Sample size=525, multiple answer)

Greatly increased	4.6%
Increased	21.7%
Not changed	69.3%
Decreased	3.8%
Greatly decreased	0.6%