‘Digital Divide’ Still Shapes Media Landscape.

Households with higher incomes or children are much more likely to own a range of media technologies, from PCs to high-speed Internet access to DVD players, according to a new report series from Knowledge Networks/SRI. By comparison, the “digital divide” between different ethnic and age groups is less severe, though still substantial in some cases.

While it may seem safe to assume that computer ownership is now well distributed across income groups, families earning over $50,000 per year are still more than twice as likely to have a PC (89% versus 41%) compared to those earning under $30,000. The higher-income homes are also five times more likely to have broadband Internet access (39% versus 8%) and more than twice as likely to have digital cable TV (27% versus 11%).

The presence of children almost doubles the likelihood that a home will have broadband (29% versus 16% of non-child households) and significantly increases its chances of having digital cable TV (22% v. 16%), a DVD player (71% vs. 47%), or a home computer (76% vs. 59%).

In a comparison of white, African American and Hispanic households, white families were more likely to have PCs and high-speed Internet, but ownership of DVD players was uniform, and African Americans were almost twice as likely to subscribe to digital cable as the other two groups.

“As marketers increasingly use different tactics and technologies to target key demographic groups, it is essential that they understand the distribution of today’s media-related devices and services,” said David C. Tice, Vice President of Client Service at Knowledge Networks/SRI. “Our findings suggest that the ‘digital divide’ will have an impact on the mainstreaming of today’s emerging media technologies, as well as many that have yet to appear on the scene.”

The new Technology Trends reports track ownership and usage of over 100 technologies — from DVRs (such as TiVo™) to cellular phones with Internet service — from 2000 to 2004.

To view charts CLICK above on ‘More Images’.

For more information at http://www.knowledgenetworks.com