64% of Americans don’t know what 4K is
F
indings from a survey commissioned
by broadcast technology specialist Snell
Advanced Media (SAM) indicate that
despite the pressure for broadcasters to invest
in 4K technology, more than 60% (64%) of
Americans still don’t know what 4K is.
SAM also found that Millennials are most
likely to know exactly what 4K is compared to
any other age group, but that still accounts for
less than one third of all 18-24 year olds (29%).
Given that 4K is touted as the next evolution
in image resolution, SAM says it is crucial
the knowledge gap between broadcasters
and consumers continues to close and the
consumer electronics industry embrace an
ethos of transparency and education on what
to expect in the new era of 4K content.
The study, conducted with third-party
research firm YouGov, revealed not only
consumer understanding of 4K, but what
content Americans are making a point to watch
live.
Broadcasters have been preparing for
4K for some time now by upgrading their
infrastructure and prepping content for
enhanced formats. However, despite their
focus on the evolving era of 4K, consumer
understanding still lags.
• Just 17% of US adults are confident they’ve
heard of 4K and know exactly what it is
• However, millennials (18-24) are more
familiar with 4K than any other age group,
(29% said they knew exactly what 4K
was) and a quarter of them (25%) had
purposefully watched something in 4K in the
past six months
· It was no surprise then that just 11% of US
adults currently own a 4K TV, with half
of those either yet to find it worthwhile or
understand what it does
• 17% of early millennials (25-34) own a 4K
TV, the highest among all age groups
• However, once educated on what 4K was,
41% of consumers said they would like to
have a 4K TV
“At SAM, we frequently survey consumer
sentiment to help us better understand the
relationship between our customers and
their audience. It was evident from our
research that even though 4K is a huge industry
buzzword, and something many broadcasters
have already begun preparing to deliver to
consumers, most Americans don’t quite know
what that entails. The knowledge gap between
broadcaster and customer revealed by our
research goes to show that finding the right
formula to deliver and implement a winning
4K strategy is the key to broadcasters’ success,”
said Neil Maycock, EVP and general manager,
media software solutions at SAM.
4K is not the only advancement in
technology changing the way broadcasters
approach content creation and distribution.
Increasing consumer reliance on social
media and multiple devices or platforms has
dramatically influenced the way broadcasters
need to approach live coverage.
Sports broadcasters are
live TV champions
• 65% of Americans thought a recent
high-profile TV event was important
enough to watch live. Among them, more
Americans made it a priority to watch Super
Bowl 50 live (61%) than they did any primary
election results (36%)
• Three times as m