HDTV Sets Now In More Than One-Third of U.S. Homes: Survey

Leichtman Research Survey Shows 1 In 5 Purchased HDTV in Past Year

By Linda Moss -- Multichannel News, 11/12/2008 10:55:00 AM
New consumer research from Leichtman Research Group found that 34% of U.S. households have at least one HDTV set, about double the percentage of households that had such TVs two years ago.

The growth of HDTV sets has largely been driven by on-going consumer purchasing of TV sets coupled with a dwindling supply of lower-end non-HDTV sets being sold, according to Leichtman. Overall, 22% of all households purchased a new TV set in the past 12 months, with 43% of this group spending over $1,000 on a new TV.

These findings are based on a survey of 1,302 households throughout the United States, and are part of a new LRG study, HDTV 2008: Consumer Awareness, Interest and Ownership. This is LRG’s sixth annual study on this topic.

Other findings include:

-- Combined, 38% of HD owners say that replacing an old/broken set or wanting to buy a new TV set was the most important reason for getting their HDTV, compared to 22% citing picture quality, and 7% the quality of HD programming or the number of HD channels.

-- 44% with annual household incomes over $50,000 have an HDTV compared to 20% with annual household incomes under $50,000.

-- 33% of HDTV owners have more than one HDTV set, and 25% are likely to get another HDTV set in the next year.

-- 9% of HD owners say that they switched multi-channel video providers when they purchased their HDTV.

-- 42% of HDTV owners say that they were told how to receive HD programming when they purchased their set.

-- LRG estimates that about 58% of all HD households are now watching HD programming from a multi-channel video provider – up from 53% last year. However, about 18% of individuals with an HDTV continue think that they are watching HD programming, but are not.

“About 40 million U.S. households now have at least one HDTV set, and LRG forecasts that this number will double over the next four years,” Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, said in a prepared statement. “While more people than ever before have HDTV sets, educating consumers on HD programming remains an issue.”

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6614139.html?desc=topstory

Rapidly approaching the time when it will be, "You don't have a HD televison yet!".

Really, nine percent of HDTV owners were formerly OTA only?

Really, nine percent of HDTV owners were formerly OTA only?

No, it's says they switched multi-channel providers, not switched TO multi-channel providers - so 9% switched between cable/satellite providers, not that they were only OTA before.

i love it.

18% of hd set owners think they're watching hd but they're not.

americans can be so stupid

18% of hd set owners think they're watching hd but they're not.

americans can be so stupid
What percentage of Australians think they're watching HD when they're watching upconverted SD?

What percentage of Australians think they're watching HD when they're watching upconverted SD?
Yeah I was gonna say, I think stupidity is probably a human trait, not an American trait.

Ignorance, not stupidity.

i love it.

18% of hd set owners think they're watching hd but they're not.

americans can be so stupid


Many people think they're making a clever, witty comment, but they're not...

To quote the philosopher poet Nigel Tufnel. "It's a fine line between clever and stupid."

And we still have 25 HD channels on Comcast...why?

Many people think they're making a clever, witty comment, but they're not...


Actually, I think mr.wally is correct.. but his numbers may be a bit low..:)

I wonder if they're counting ED sets.

Ignorance, not stupidity.

No it is stupidity.

I had a student in one of my classes ask me today about a phrase I used during lecture "mutual agreement."

"What does mutual mean, I have never heard that word?"

College student. Expensive, private college.

Idiot.

We have "remedial" courses for dummies who cannot handle the regular college classes ( for example developmental math to prepare for regular math.)

Guess what? We now have students who cannot pass the "remedial" classes. The solution? We now have remedial classes to prepare students for the remedial classes.

I kid you not. This country is doomed.

Here's an example. On another forum, someone claimed that he had never seen any artifacts in any HD broadcasts. Everyone else on the forum posted a collective, "What????" He then said that for example he didn't see any artifacts during a UCLA game over the weekend. We pointed out that the game he was referring to wasn't broadcast in HD which was perfectly obvious since it was 4:3. He then said that we were all wrong and stupid -- not all HD is 16:9 since there is lots of 4:3 programming on ESPN-HD. *Sigh* I directed him to the list of games that proved the game was one of the ABC/ESPN games not broadcasted in HD that week. He said he didn't need to look a game up on the Internet to know if it was HD or not.

Ignorance or stupidity? I'd say stupidity since he simply could not understand what multiple people were telling him about how HD works. Ignorance is fixable and I have posted plenty of ignorant statements here over the years that were kindly corrected by people who knew more than me at the time.

No it is stupidity.

:

We have "remedial" courses for dummies who cannot handle the regular college classes ( for example developmental math to prepare for regular math.)
That's ignorance, not stupidity. High schools just don't teach stuff they used to because it's better to graduate kids with high GPAs than teach them hard stuff that would drag down their grade point average and upset their parents. I don't think kids are getting stupider.

I was in one of these "cutting edge" high schools twenty years ago. I had to relearn algebra in college because what I learned in high school was incomplete or wrong. I was lucky to graduate knowing how to add fractions.

We did have a great football team!

regarding not watching HD on new HDTV's:

They only surveyed 1302 housholds so how accurate can it be?
Plus, how honest are the people with their answers?
Are they really going to admit their ignorance?
The percentage is probably much higher.

However, about 18% of individuals with an HDTV continue think that they are watching HD programming, but are not.



I wonder how they can determine that from a survey?

well i think its funny that about 20% of americans (that's who they surveyed, not australians) don't know they're not watching hd broadcasts on their hd sets.

it was a joke. some people get so defensive. yeah stupidity runs across national borders. i'm not attacking our country.

I was in one of these "cutting edge" high schools twenty years ago. !


I graduated high school in 80. It was the first year the state of NC required "competency" testing for graduation. Those who failed were take aside and tutored to pass the test.

What does that have to do with HDTV? People today aren't smart enough to
RTFM.. that's read the manual.

I graduated high school in 80. It was the first year the state of NC required "competency" testing for graduation. Those who failed were take aside and tutored to pass the test.

What does that have to do with HDTV? People today aren't smart enough to
RTFM.. that's read the manual.
I agree about the manual.
(Not counting hdtv's hooked up with incorrect cables)
However, wouldnt you think if you are watching channel xyz-hd, you would be watching hd? You and I and others know that is not the case, but imagine people who are new to Hd and digital especially,to be told " i know you are watching Food-hd, but that isnt hd programming."
Even tv stations are clueless and are spreading wrong info. On one of our subchannels is the news rerun 24 hrs a day. During the newscast they would show a graphic that said, "if you miss us catch us on our 8.2 hd channel 24 hrs a day". It took the station a week to get that changed to 8.2 DIGITAL, as 8.2 is not hd. Even in the newspaper i see articles saying "countdown til hd, Feb 2009." Believe me,you dont know how many people think that come feb09, EVERYTHING is going to be HD.

" Believe me,you dont know how many people think that come feb09, EVERYTHING is going to be HD.

Uh, yea I do.. I work in TV.. and Pop & Granny ain't the only "Ignert" ones out there!

I wonder how they can determine that from a survey?
Trick questions!

Q: If you watch <show not in HD>, how would you rate its HD picture quality?
A: Excellent!

Q: Which of the following cables have you connected between your cable box and HDTV?
A: An RCA cable, the one that used to go to my VCR.

The manuals have improved over the years. My Sharp from four years ago assumed you already knew what the cables did and which ones worked better than others and made no recommendations. The Samsung I got a few months ago was somewhat better. It had "Good/Better/Best" examples of cable connections. What it really needed to say was "NOT HD/HD/HD". Yeah, s-video can look "good" but not "HD".

Now receivers are at least five times more complicated. All those codecs, all those "modes", all those speaker arrangements, all the different cables... it's daunting. I'm sure more than 18% of Blu-ray and HD-DVD player owners are impressed by the "lossless audio" they hear from the optical output.

-- LRG estimates that about 58% of all HD households are now watching HD programming from a multi-channel video provider – up from 53% last year. However, about 18% of individuals with an HDTV continue think that they are watching HD programming, but are not.


Implicit in these numbers is that almost one quarter of HD households are watching HD programming without getting it from a multi-channel provider. If that is at all accurate, that is the highest number that I've seen for OTA viewing in quite a while. That could represent good news for OTA broadcasting, or it could be slop and error in the study...although I'd like for it to be the former.

How I arrived at that number: Start with a universe of all (100%) of homes with HDTVs, and subtract out the 58% that receive HD programming from a multi-channel provider, and you have 42% of HDTV households left. Take the 18% who think they're watching HD programs when they're not, and you have 24% left -- just slightly under one quarter of all those HDTV households.

Implicit in these numbers is that almost one quarter of HD households are watching HD programming without getting it from a multi-channel provider. If that is at all accurate, that is the highest number that I've seen for OTA viewing in quite a while. That could represent good news for OTA broadcasting, or it could be slop and error in the study...although I'd like for it to be the former.

How I arrived at that number: Start with a universe of all (100%) of homes with HDTVs, and subtract out the 58% that receive HD programming from a multi-channel provider, and you have 42% of HDTV households left. Take the 18% who think they're watching HD programs when they're not, and you have 24% left -- just slightly under one quarter of all those HDTV households.
That 24% would also include those who only use their HDTVs for video games and/or Bluray, and those who knowingly use them only for standard def TV and DVDs.

Those of us watching HD via clear QAM probably aren't counted in the "official" figures, since "officially" we don't exist (according to most cable company employees).