KNOWLEDGE NETWORKS NAMES HDTV AS "GAME-CHANGING MEDIA TECHNOLOGY OF 2008"

KN's The Home Technology Monitor™ shows HDTV set ownership has doubled every two years since 2000; technology also affects viewing, service choices

Menlo Park, CA; August 19, 2008: Knowledge Networks has selected high-definition television (HDTV) as its first-ever "Game-Changing Media Technology of the Year." The choice was based on insights from KN's The Home Technology Monitor™, which has shown not only a rapid increase in HDTV set ownership (from 14% of TV homes in 2006 to 28% now), but also that the presence of HDTV helps determine the other TV services consumers seek out and how they feel about and use them.

Delivering high-definition programming has become a focus of cable, satellite, and "telco" TV services seeking to differentiate their brands, as well as consumer electronics companies needing to revitalize the TV set market. Advertisers have followed suit, delivering ads that leverage the technology's extraordinary picture quality.

"The purchase of a high-definition set is often a turning point in consumers' approach to television," said David Tice, Vice President and Group Account Director at Knowledge Networks. "It changes what channels people watch, their expectations about programming and advertising, and their 'wish list' of devices and services for the future."

Research by KN's The Home Technology Monitor™ – which just released its annual Ownership and Trend Report – reveals that

• ownership of high-definition sets has risen from 14% of TV homes in 2006 to 20% in 2007 and 28% now
• HD set ownership is predicted by KN to jump another 10 percentage points, to 38%, in 2009
• HDTV is one of a select few devices and services – the others are DVRs and ownership of two or more home computers – consistently associated with higher overall levels of technology sophistication in homes
• the transition to digital television, which takes effect in February 2009, will continue to drive purchase of new sets, most of which will be HD-ready (the latest KN measurement shows that 13% of homes that have a TV set with over-the-air reception are already planning to buy a digital/HD set)
• viewers of HD programs are more likely to agree that ads in high-definition programming are relevant to their needs than are regular viewers about ads in regular programming (41% versus 35%)*
• those who have HD reception develop a clear preference for high-definition programming; one third (33%) go to high-definition channels first when looking for something to watch*
• HD viewers are more likely to plan their viewing ahead of time – 70%, as opposed to just over half in non-HD homes*

* From How People Use® HDTV, a 2007 report by The Home Technology Monitor™

Through its effects on channel selection and other viewing habits, HD programming can build viewer engagement on several levels, potentially creating a more powerful environment for advertisers.

The Home Technology Monitor™ provides the most authoritative information on the media technologies consumers have access to – from cellular phones with video service to digital video recorders; its reports draw on trend data from 1981 to the present, as well as KN's trademarked How People Use® approach to studying consumers' interactions with media. Its newest report is an annual overview of Ownership and Trends in media technology; to produce the study, KN conducted 2,636 in-depth interviews with a representative sample of households nationwide.

Knowledge Networks specializes in solving complex, high-impact problems, providing extraordinary quality and service to leaders in business, government and academia. We work closely with clients to create healthy consumer-brand connections, effective marketing and advertising, sound public policies, and accurate social science research. We have established respected practices in media, marketing, advertising, and government & academic studies. KN excels in study design, analytics, and custom panel creation; we deliver affordable, statistically valid online research through KnowledgePanel® – the only available probability selected, nationally representative Internet panel.