NYC Values High-Speed Internet Highest Among Everyday Necessities

NEW YORK, March 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- New York is not just the city that never sleeps – it's the city that's always online. Time Warner Cable commissioned a study asking New Yorkers in all five boroughs how important high-speed Internet is to them, how they use it, when they use, why they use it and what they know about it.

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120320/NY72993)

Turns out, Internet ranks higher than NYC staples like coffee, bagels, taxi rides – even air conditioning!

5 Boroughs, 5 Devices
New York households have an average of 5 devices connected to the Internet. 

NYC Essentials: Connectivity vs. Coffee
If they had to choose one thing to live without New Yorkers would give up their coffee (32%) and good bagels (30%), but almost nobody would give up fast Internet (3%).

Better a Blackout than Being Offline
In case of severe weather, more New Yorkers would miss the Internet (26%) more than the lights (12%), TV (15%), or the fridge or freezer (12%). 

• While most New Yorkers would miss only heat or AC (34%) more than the Internet (26%), Manhattanites and Hispanic New Yorkers – across boroughs -- would still rather brave the temperatures than disconnect.
  • Hispanic New Yorkers would also miss the Internet (31%) even more than heat or AC (26%).

Cut Budgets, Keep Internet
If they had to cut back, New Yorkers would give up taxi rides (80%), magazines (63%) – and even their cell phone service (14%) at higher rates than they're willing to cut back on Internet service (7%).

The City That Never Sleeps is Always Online
New Yorkers spend the day with the Internet.  Two-thirds (67%) of New Yorkers use the Internet at home in the evening,  half use it late at night (52%) or at home doing work during the day (51%) and four in ten New Yorkers use the Internet as soon as they wake up (43%).

Movies: In Line or Online?
Although half of all New Yorkers (51%) would wait for 15 minutes to see a movie in a theater; only two in ten (18%) would wait 15 minutes to download a movie online.

MVP: Most Valued Present
Three times as many New Yorkers would want a game console that connects to the Internet (18%) than a puppy (6%) as a gift.

Internet for Everybody
One quarter (25%) of all New Yorkers who visit a community or recreation center most appreciate having access to a computer with high-speed Internet.

• African American and Hispanic New York City residents are even more passionate about access to high-speed Internet at their local community or recreational center, with nearly a third of the members of both communities ranking it as the service they appreciate most (33% and 27%, respectively).

In a New York Minute
While the majority of New Yorkers know how fast their trains are, with 77% responding they know which trains run express and which run local, less than half know how fast their home Internet connection is (46%).

WiFi vs. DSL vs. Broadband
Most New Yorkers know where they can access free WiFi (average 70%) but less know the difference between DSL and Broadband (average 47%).

Can You Use This Feature Now?
Many of the features that make a smartphone "smart" require an Internet connection, not just cell service – something that about half of all New Yorkers realize.

• An average of 51% of New Yorkers say that video chatting requires Internet (it does) but 27% say that playing Angry Birds also requires Internet (it doesn't).

About The Survey
The TimeWarner Cable New York City study was conducted by StrategyOne using ResearchNow field services, among 1,000 New York City residents (200 in each of the five boroughs) with an additional oversample of 100 African Americans and 100 Hispanic residents of NYC.  The survey took an average of 16 minutes to complete, and was fielded between November  14th  – 18th , 2011.  Data for the 1,000 New Yorkers were weighted to US Census Data for NYC for representativeness of age, ethnicity and gender.  These data have a margin of error +- 3.1% at the 95% confidence interval. 

About Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) is among the largest providers of video, high‐speed data and voice services in the United States, connecting more than 15 million customers to entertainment, information and each other. Time Warner Cable Business Class offers data, video and voice services to businesses of all sizes, cell tower backhaul services to wireless carriers and, through its NaviSite subsidiary, managed and outsourced information technology solutions and cloud services. Time Warner Cable Media, the advertising arm of Time Warner Cable, offers national, regional and local companies innovative advertising solutions. More information about the services of Time Warner Cable is available at www.timewarnercable.com, www.twcbc.com, www.navisite.com, and www.twcmedia.com.

About StrategyOne
StrategyOne, a Daniel J. Edelman company, employs custom public opinion research and secondary research methodologies to deliver strategic counsel to corporate, organizational and governmental clients globally. With offices in Atlanta, Chicago, London, New York, Paris, San Mateo, Washington, D.C., and Abu Dhabi StrategyOne provides global clients with evidence based stakeholder insights, analysis and measurement. Visit www.strategyone.com for more information.

SOURCE Time Warner Cable