StarThoughts said:

I don't think there is more demand for the OUT than the SE. I just think the people who want the original are more vocal than the people who are either content with the SE or don't know the difference.

I think this is true, depending on what you mean by "demand". The SE's are already available in HD on BD, so anyone who wants those, or more aptly, doesn't care, can readily acquire them. As you said, the number of people who specifically care about the issue and want the UOT are undoubtedly smaller, but I'd say the "demand" is greater and more intense simply because the UOT isn't available in any suitable home video format.

There's also the old adage in marketing that people want what you tell them to want, and don't know what they want until they want it. For a long time the SE's were pushed as the best version of Star Wars, with all the bells and whistles, so people dutifully bought them. If these films do come out in their original form, once the Disney marketing machine kicks in (and Disney does nothing well if it's not nostalgia) everyone will think they just must have the original version of Star Wars and wonder how they ever just lived with the SE's all those years.