Professors Connie Book and Brooke Barnett have published their research on watching television via the personal computer in Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, Vol. 12, No. 3, 325-339 (2006).
Their study, funded in part by a grant from the National Association of Broadcasters, examined the potential of PCTV (watching television on your PC) among consumers. An intercept field study that included product demonstration with a convenience sample of US adults was conducted (N = 309). Expectancy-value theory was used to measure respondents’ interest in PCTV. While a majority had heard of the product, expectations of what PCTV could provide remained low and as a result, value and subsequent interest was low.
As terrestrial broadcasting, cable, telephone, internet companies and other programming providers explore the potential market for PCTV and promote that market, the possibility exists that value related to PCTV could be developed. In other words, PCTV remains an open field waiting for leadership to manifest its diffusion.