China's cable industry digitization is being driven by Whole System Shift, the Chinese government's program to speed up the conversion of urban households from analog to digital cable TV. It is, therefore, not up to individual consumers whether or not they use digital cable. As a result, In-Stat's 2007 digital cable end-user survey was focused more on finding out about overall consumer attitudes toward the technology. The question is not whether they will subscribe to digital cable, but rather how they would use the service and how much they would be willing to spend on it.
Chinese cable TV operators are entering their fourth year of offering DTV services. In 2006 alone, nearly seven million households were converted from analog cable TV to digital cable TV. As digitization progresses, Chinese consumers are becoming more aware of DTV and its applications.