Don’t Get Suckered by Motorola “Study”

There’s lots of buzz within the blogosphere today about an “independent” study by Motorola that 45% of European now watch TV online. First, there’s no such thing as a truly independent study from a company that happens to supply equipment to watch TV online. Second, the “study” isn’t focused on the European population but 2,500 broadband users in the U.K., France, Germany, Italy and Spain. I guess Europeans and/or broadband users in Belgium, Scandanavia, Holland and Eastern Europe don’t count.

If you’re already suspicious or skeptical, the study breathlessly proclaims the “TV itself appears to be evolving from a static ‘box in the corner of the living room’ into an interactive entertainment and communications tool.” Well, wonders never cease, do they!?

And then there’s a “quote” from Karl Elliott, a Motorola executive (note: why is a Motorola executive quoted in an independent study?), who announces that “These results show that viewers across Europe are no longer satisfied with fitting into schedules dictated by broadcasters and are turning to the choice and flexibility offered by TV over the internet. We are witnessing a nation of citizen schedulers who are in control of their entertainment, allowing them to watch what they want, how and when they want it.”