Uncertainty is Holding Back Consumer Spending on Digital Content

When it comes to paying for digital video, consumers are faced with a significant amount of uncertainty, enough to keep them from more actively spending.

If a consumer decides to watch a movie or TV program, they likely do not know if they have already paid for that content. So, they have to consider checking their channel listings (is it on Bravo or HBO currently?), their DVR (did I record that?), their Netflix subscription (is it an Instant View or do I have to wait for a disk?), free VOD or catch-up TV, and perhaps Hulu or other options. And this is all assuming that they know in advance the specific content for which they are searching. (If you add in the additional decision of which content that they might want to watch, the decision process becomes a real headache.)

Some in the industry are taking notice. TiVo is specifically addressing this issue by improving their search feature to allow searches across content sources (linear, DVR, online, etc.), allowing consumers to see the content to which they have access. By seeing what video is "theirs", will consumers be more willing to spend to add to their "collection" of available video?