Some 2.5 million broadband households in North America are ready to purchase an Internet-connected TV if priced at a $100 premium over regular TV sets. This figure translates into $250 million in additional revenues for the consumer electronics industry.

Parks Associates’ latest consumer study, 'Digital Media Evolution,' gauges market demand for Internet-connected devices and the applications consumers want to use in conjunction with this new capability. The study covers digital cameras, TVs, digital photo frames, and Blu-ray players and finds TVs have the strongest market potential.

The top application consumers want through a connected TV is access to video-on-demand content. At the same time, roughly one-third of broadband households in the US and Canada want on-screen widgets, and 27% want to access content stored on their home computers.

“Access to additional content is the key demand driver,” said John Barrett, director of research, Parks Associates. “Most people can get popular video titles through their pay-TV providers, but if they want to watch niche or personal content on their TV, they have to burn or buy DVDs. With a connected TV, they suddenly have lots more options.”

Story filed 12.04.09