According to the survey, 99% of Nairobi residents are aware of the impending digital migration while on the national level 78% are aware.
The need to purchase set top boxes is however low with 68% of Nairobi residents being found not to be feeling the urgency to purchase set top boxes.
Margaret Ireri, managing director of Ipsos, said the survey established that the purchase of set top boxes have slowed in the past two months when there have been court cases pitching media owners and the government over the digital migration.
In December, the major TV stations reportedly switched off their screens for a whole day protesting the migration. Ipsos' survey established that the blackout did not scare the Nairobi viewership.
"The switch off scare where selected TV stations put off their TV signal for a day appears to have had no impact on the purchase of a set top box. With the media houses in court, people in Nairobi are probably hoping that the digital migration will be postponed," Ireri said.
Ireri added that should the migration go ahead, most members of the public would contend with blackouts for a while. Legal challenges have halted the migration from analogue to digital broadcasting.
Source: CAJ News
