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Tag: hd-programming

  • US HDTV Ownership Shoots Up


    A third (33.3%) of US households now have HDTVs, up from 19.3% a year ago, according to a Nielsen survey.

    However, only 28.8% of all US homes received HD programming as of February 2009.

    In January, In-Stat reported that more than 39 million US households have an HDTV set yet 43% – or 17 million – either don’t have or don’t watch HD content.

    The Nielsen findings also showed that the average household has 2.6 sets (2.0 SD sets; 0.5 HD).

    Among homes with HDTVs, the average is 3.0 sets (1.4 HD; 1.6 SD).

    Steve McGowan, Nielsen’s SVP of client research initiatives, said in a blog post the results showed that not since color TV was introduced more than 50 years ago has a new TV technology been so rapidly adopted.

    "And despite the recession, Americans seem willing to continue to spend their hard-earned money on this new technology," he said.

    Other Nielsen findings include:

    • HD penetration was greatest among Asian homes (41.8%) followed by white (34.3%), Hispanic (32.0%) and African-American homes (25.9%)
    • 62.7% of all HD sets in the U.S. were located in common areas
    • More than 75% of all tuning on HD sets happened in living rooms or other common areas
    • A higher percentage of HD sets (30.6%) were attached to video game consoles than were SD sets (19.9%)

  • Thirst For HD Drives Freesat Sales To 200,000


    Demand for HD content has helped drive sales of Freesat devices past the 200,000 mark since the UK service was launched last May.

    While the figure is impressive, it further highlights the gulf that has opened up between the US and Japan and the rest of the world.

    An In-Stat report earlier this week showed that the bulk of households with an installed high-definition television is decidedly biased towards these two countries.

    That said, steps are being taken in the UK to improve the amount of HD content available.

    Freesat has quickly established itself as a leading provider of high def channels.

    The BBC-ITV joint venture said that HD had become a key selling point, with 61 per cent of a "customer panel" choosing the availability of high definition content as their "primary reason" for purchasing.

    Freesat offers its HD channel with no subscription.

    BSkyB announced this week that 779,000 now have its HD receiver and it hopes to make further investment in HD programming.

    Apple has also just announced that the first HD show is available for download from the iTunes store for AppleTV owners in the UK.
    Other European nations are also making in-roads into the HD world.

    A study from market researchers GfK states that the German market for Blu-ray players is in great shape, with strong sales in the final three months of 2008.

    GfK said that with average prices approaching the €300 barrier, sales figures of Blu-ray Players finally reached the 100,000 mark in December when more than 30,000 units were sold.

    Despite this positive development in the last quarter of 2008 the new format is not yet a resounding success.

    In December, there were already more than 11 million HD-ready or Full HD TV sets on the market in Germany compared to only 110,000 Blu-ray Players.

  • 43% of US HDTV Owners Don't Watch HD Content


    More than 39 million US households have an HDTV set – and the figure keeps on rising.

    Yet a sizeable proportion – 43 per cent or 17 million – either don’t have or don’t watch HD content.

    A report from In-Stat has highlighted a "significant gap" between HDTV ownership and HD programming usage among US households.

    It shows that the number of US HDTV households – defined as households having both an installed HD-capable TV set and also receiving and watching HD programming – increased by almost 40 per cent in 2008.

    However, Mike Paxton, an In-Stat analyst, said the growth rate could have been much larger.

    "In the US, there are more than 39 million households with an installed HDTV set," he said.

    "However, only 22 million of those are HDTV households, meaning that 17 million US households with an installed HDTV set are not watching HD programming."

    The In-Stat report comes as the number of households with an installed high-definition television continues to grow worldwide.

    However, this installed base of households is decidedly biased to two countries: the US and Japan.

    And while there are many in the US not taking full advantage of their HDTV sets, the US has 61 per cent of the global total of 36 million HDTV households.

    Recent research by In-Stat also found the following:

    • On a global basis, HDTV service remains limited to a relatively small number of countries, primarily the US and Japan.
    • At year-end 2008, there were over 36 million HDTV households worldwide, up from 29 million at year-end 2007.
    • Even though the number of European HDTV households is rising, it will be 2011 before the number of HDTV households in that region reaches the 10 million mark.
    • Cable and satellite TV service providers provide HD programming to almost 80% of all HDTV households. Telco TV service providers and terrestrial broadcast TV service providers provide service to the remaining HDTV households.