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15/03/05
BBC's Easter DTV Campaign Inhibits Consumer Choice
Intellect has voiced concern over today's launch of the BBC's on-air Easter DTV Campaign, warning that the campaign's promotion of £50 set top boxes and failure to promote the DTV Logo, will not help digital switchover in the UK and will result in many British consumers investing in the wrong products for their needs.
Laurence Harrison, Consumer Electronics Director at Intellect, says: "Intellect cannot understand why the BBC continues to take this short-sighted approach to the education of its viewers. The BBC has done a great job in getting Freeview into UK households but we must have a change in their marketing approach that doesn’t inhibit consumer product choice. By continually promoting £50 set top boxes as the only way to view digital TV, and by refusing to promote the DTV Logo, the BBC is creating a false public perception of the products available."
In 2004 the UK consumer electronics industry sold 5.5 million analogue televisions, 3.5 million set top boxes and only 500,000 integrated digital TVs (idTVs). Intellect considers these figures to be proof of the uninformed buying decisions which many consumers are currently making, and warns that more must be done to educate consumers of the wide range of products available to them, particularly idTVs which are now extremely cost effective, before the first regional switchover begins in the Borders in 2008.
Harrison says: "We are three years away from the beginning of digital switchover, and yet 5.5 of the 6 million TVs sold annually are still analogue. Many of the 3.5 million set top boxes being sold will be converting existing TVs so the number of analogue TVs going out into the market will be well over 2 million. This is a seriously worrying situation and means that millions of consumers are 'upgrading' without understanding the range of products available to them. They are making purchasing decisions based on the information provided by the BBC through its on-air campaigns, and not on what is most appropriate for their own individual requirements."
"Low cost set top boxes will be the right solution for some viewers, but it is simply not the case that they will be right for everyone. There are many solutions and the important thing is that the consumer can choose what is right for them without being told there is only one option by the BBC."
In a recent statement Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell confirmed that the BBC will play a leading role in the process of switching Britain from analogue to digital television, and outlined that it would be at the forefront of public information campaigns. The BBC must therefore recognise and take responsibility for the negative impact its on-air campaigns are having on consumers. Specifically, Intellect asks that in the run up to Autumn 2005 the BBC engages with manufacturers and alters the focus of its on-air campaigns. Intellect considers this a critical juncture in the switchover timetable, as it is potentially only three years before the switchover of the first region. Help must be given to consumers to ensure that they are truly 'thinking digital' within the key consumer electronics buying season in the last quarter of 2005.
Harrison says, "Autumn 2005 will be the cut off point in terms of consumer education. What we would like to see is a message that says "There are many different ways to get Freeview, ask your retailer what’s best for you". If the BBC can engage with Industry by Autumn 2005, and really get behind the DTV Logo through its future on-air campaigns, then we can make an impact on consumers consciousness and ensure that more informed buying decisions are made."
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