Tablets and wireless phones became more popular means of viewing paid video content in 2012, at the expense of conventional computers. That's the main conclusion of the recently released J.D. Power and Associates 2012 U.S. Residential Pay-to-View Study. The study reports that 18% of survey respondents use tablets to view paid video content: a jump of nearly 64% from 2011. Sixteen percent of those surveyed use wireless phones for the same purpose, up from 14% last year. On the other hand, 39% of those surveyed say that they viewed paid content on a conventional computer--a drop of nearly 19% from last year, when 48% of those surveyed used a computer to view paid content. The study also shows that overall satisfaction with paid video service averages 750 on a 1,000-point scale, up from 743 a year ago.

Interestingly, the average satisfaction level is virtually identical among people born before 1964 ("Baby Boomers"), and those born after 1977 ("Generation Y"). However, it appears that younger people have become less satisfied over the past year, particularly with customer service and costs, while older people have become more satisfied, due largely to the products' ease of use, variety of programming, and billing systems. According to the study, 21% of the younger customers say that they consider mobility a factor when choosing a video service provider. Conversely, only 9% of Boomers say that they considered mobility--an indicator, perhaps, that they're more used to sitting still when watching movies or TV shows.

Additionally, the study shows that people who use a gaming console to view paid content also tend to spend more time at this occupation: 6.3 hours per week, on average, compared with 5.3 hours a week for people who use a computer, and less than 5 hours for those who use a mobile device.

The U.S. Residential Pay-to-View Study, now in its second year, measures customer satisfaction with the pay-to-view service experience across seven factors: performance and reliability; variety of videos/programming provided; ease of use; cost of service; customer service; billing; and offerings and promotions. The study is based on responses from 4,097 U.S. households that evaluated video service providers, including Amazon, Apple TV, Blockbuster/Blockbuster Express, Google TV, Hulu/Hulu Plus, Local Video Stores, Netflix and Redbox. The study was fielded in April 2012.