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Nielsen stats find 33% of U.S. households with at least one HDTV

by Richard Lawler posted May 21st 2009 at 11:41PM


A good six months after the Leichtman Research group published figures pushing HDTV penetration over one third of the U.S., Nielsen's February survey has produced similar numbers, indicating a rise from the 23% it found prior to the holiday season. Whatever the cause for the jump and the discrepancy, there's plenty of numbers to digest, for those into that. Want to know how many televisions (including SD) the average HDTV owner has? 3. There's still a gap between those who have an HDTV, and the 28% actually able watch HDTV broadcasts, assumed to exist not only because of a lack of consumer education, but also that people are unwilling to add to their cable/satellite bill on a monthly basis to tune in to HD. Punch the read link for the full breakdown, we're sure there's an interesting factoid or trend buried in there somewhere.

"Significant gap" found between US HDTV ownership and HD programming usage

by Darren Murph posted Jan 26th 2009 at 4:02PM


Research firm In-Stat is back with updated numbers on the amount of HDTV owners / HD programming consumers there are in the US, and needless to say, there's still quite the gap. The most recent report points out 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% in 2008." That said, the growth rate could have been much, much larger. In America, there are over 39 million homes with an installed HDTV, yet just 22 million of those are tuning into HD programming. From a worldwide perspective, we are glad to see that HDTV households rose from 29 million at year-end 2007 to 36 million at year-end 2008, though In-Stat does note that it'll likely be 2011 before Europe hits the magical 10 million mark in HDTV households. Per usual, even more figures are waiting in the read link.

Nielsen reports: 23% of US households have an HDTV

by Darren Murph posted Dec 11th 2008 at 11:29AM


Ruh roh, we've got some conflicting evidence to deal with. Just last month, the Leichtman Research Group reported that some 34% of American households were HDTV-equipped, and now the highly respected Nielsen has stepped forward with a figure much, much lower. In fact, its latest numbers show that just 23.3% of all US homes have an HDTV, noting that it has more than doubled since a 10% penetration rating was found in July 2007. As for specific regions, the nation's capital was found to be most aware, with 31.1% of homes having a high-def set. Following DC were Boston and New York at 30.5% and 30.2%, respectively, while Detroit had the lowest percentage for a major market at 20.9%. Hmm... who to believe?

[Via AdWeek]

Nearly half of American households to have a DVR by 2014

by Darren Murph posted Dec 9th 2008 at 11:23PM


So, what? 2012 is too close now, so we're moving the target date for all consumer electronics-related estimates to 2014? All jesting aside, a new study from Magna asserts that by the end of 2014, some 44% of US households will have a DVR of some kind. Also by that time, the DVR will be responsible for a 4% erosion in total viewing impressions across all dayparts, but those primetime spots will become that much less important when users can simply make anytime their own personal primetime. The report also expects around 68.8 million homes to receive video-on-demand (up from 40.4 million in Q3 2008), while the number of US domiciles with broadband internet access will rise to 86.2 million from 68.3 million now. Ah, the beautiful scent of progress.

[Image courtesy of AT&T]

Many first-time HDTV buyers bypassing the HDTV service

by Darren Murph posted Nov 25th 2008 at 2:30PM


Oh, brother. Not this again. Every year it seems that we get wind of a wonky report that explains just how ignorant many first-time HDTV buyers are to HD programming. And in many cases, we'd argue to no fault of their own. The most recent survey from the offices of Frank N. Magid Associates asserts that "among the 12% of US households who purchased a new high-definition television in the past year, 41% still need to arrange for high-definition programming service from a cable or satellite provider." Granted, some of those folks could be perfectly content with pulling in high-def via an OTA antenna (or hooking up a gaming console / Blu-ray player), but that's still a lot of cats and kittens neglecting that sweet, sweet pay-TV goodness. The survey also found that 43% of new HDTV owners "had not looked into HD services from any provider," and that 41% didn't feel that HD services were worth the cost. We've said it before, and we'll say it again: friends don't let friends own an HDTV without any HD content. It's just not right, people.

DirecTV enjoys fruitful Q1, demand for HD / DVRs to thank

by Darren Murph posted May 7th 2008 at 1:59PM

Nah, Comcast wasn't shedding any tears after announcing its Q1 2008 earnings, but DirecTV must be grinning from ear-to-ear. Aside from seeing its earnings rise 10-percent and revenues climb 17-percent, the satcaster also managed to grab 275,000 net subscriber additions. Analysts were quite pleased with the exceptionally low churn rate, as many of its subscribers seem to be staying put. And with close to a hundred HD channels on tap, who can blame them? It was also noted that average revenue per subscriber crept up from $73.40 to $79.70, and an increasing demand for high-definition programming and DVRs were largely to thank. Is making the switch from cable to satellite worth it? Seems that quite a few folks said yes with their wallets this past quarter.

[Via BloggingStocks]

HD programming to reach 44 million homes worldwide by year's end

by Darren Murph posted Apr 12th 2008 at 2:07PM


Just in case you haven't been schooled enough by HD research articles of late, here comes another to toss around inside that skull of yours. Based on a forecast by Informa Telecoms & Media, around 4-percent of worldwide households (read: not just homes with HDTVs) will "actively watch HD programming" before 2009 dawns. Just to put that into perspective, only 2-percent of homes globally were tuning into HDTV at the end of 2007. According to Simon Murray, principal media analyst at the company, a "major contributing factor is that set and set-top box prices have fallen substantially in the last two years," and it should come as no surprise that HD adoption has been highest in North America. Per usual, an HD study couldn't conclude without some reference to 2012, and sure enough, Informa is expecting around 179 million worldwide abodes (16-percent, give or take) to have HD programming in less than four years.

[Image courtesy of AT&T]

Poll: How long have you been subscribed to pay-HDTV service?

by Darren Murph posted Mar 28th 2008 at 2:10PM


Given that "only half" of US HDTV owners currently subscribe to any sort of pay-HDTV package, yet forecasts are suggesting that 100 million homes will be ponying up for said programming in just four short years, we're curious to know how long you HD junkies in the crowd have been hooked. Relatively speaking, HD content has exploded in just the past couple of years, but early adopters are apt to recall a time when just fetching a feed HD feeds was enough to make one's month year. Pretty simply -- how long have you been paying for HD content, and if you're more the OTA type, how long has your antenna been pulling in 720p / 1080i signals?

[Image courtesy of AT&T]

How long have you been subscribed to pay HDTV service?

Format war's end to propel Blu-ray into 29 million homes this year

by Darren Murph posted Mar 26th 2008 at 3:31PM


There's no doubt that many movie lovers were waiting until the format war came to some sort of conclusion before choosing a side, and now that Blu-ray has emerged victorious, it seems as if some analysts are fairly bullish on adoption rates. According to new research from Strategy Analytics, the end of the war will "propel [BD] into 29.4 million homes worldwide by the end of 2008." Also of note, it reckons that Sony's PS3 will "drive the Blu-ray market until 2009, after which standalone players will become the dominant segment." Of course, a study couldn't come out without some mention of 2012, so you can reportedly look forward to seeing 132 million BD-equipped homes in just four years. Now, the only question is when will BD players overtake DVD?

Worldwide IPTV subscriptions to hit 65 million in 2012

by Darren Murph posted Mar 24th 2008 at 10:41PM


At the end of 2007, just 13 million households worldwide were subscribed to an IPTV service. Reportedly, that number will inflate to 65 million in the year -- wait for it -- 2012. According to new data from IMS Research, IPTV consumption is expected to grow 52-percent annually from now until 2012, which should also drive shipments of IPTV set-top-boxes from 4.7 million in '06 to 21 million in '12. Interestingly enough, the research also notes that hybrid IP STBs, which "combine internet protocol features with traditional TV delivery," will also shoot up substantially, making Intel and its latest partners look awfully smart.

More news from 2012: 100 million US households to pay for HD programming

by Darren Murph posted Mar 18th 2008 at 10:48AM


Alright, so it was mildly humorous at first -- now it's just downright freaky. For the fourth time in just a few months, a report is emerging that forecasts numbers for 2012. Not 2011, not 2013, just 2012. Nevertheless, the latest research doled out by Pike & Fischer asserts that "up to 103 million households will be paying their multichannel video provider for some form of HD service or rental equipment" by 2012. As it stands, around 47 million US homes will be coughing up for HD programming by the end of 2008, which should be a 17 million domicile increase from 2007 if everything goes as predicted. Needless to say, we've no doubts that HD consumption has nowhere to go but up, but even we are taken aback by the $2.6 billion in annual revenue that content providers are expected to garner in just four short years.

20% of US households will spend stimulus funds on consumer electronics

by Darren Murph posted Mar 15th 2008 at 4:34PM


Forget income tax rebate checks -- what are you doing with that bonus that should be arriving between May and August of this year? Apparently, 1 in 5 of you will be spending at least a portion of your economic stimulus rebate check on consumer electronics. Granted, this "research" was dug up and put out by the Consumer Electronics Association, but all in all, it actually sounds about right. After all, shipments for flat-panels have already been on the rise this year despite a softening economy, and according to the CEA, "computers, televisions and mobile phones" are the items most likely to be targeted. More specifically, some 39-percent will purportedly use their extra income on a TV, but for their own sake, we certainly hope they set aside enough to purchase HD service to go along with it.

[Image courtesy of Crutchfield]

33 million US homes could stream HD media in 2012

by Darren Murph posted Mar 10th 2008 at 12:55AM


Considering that NSR thinks that we'll have access to 900 HD channels via satellite by 2012, we're not exactly sure why we'll even need to download high-def media in four years. All jesting aside, a recent report put forth by Parks Associates suggests that around 33 million US households will have 10Mbps+ broadband by 2012, essentially enabling an equal amount of homes to easily stream high-definition video. At the end of 2007, just 5.7 million -- or nine-percent of broadband-enabled domiciles -- had such speeds. Granted, just because speeds creep up doesn't mean that consumers will soon be ditching their packaged media and resorting to streams, but with cable companies gearing up for DOCSIS 3.0 rollouts, we'd say these figures aren't too far fetched.

[Via US News]

Just 5% of Europe's HDTV owners watch HD programming

by Darren Murph posted Mar 5th 2008 at 3:47PM


While HD expansion is continuing somewhat in locales not named America, Europe is having a tough time grabbing hold of high-definition programming. Nary a month after Sat.1 HD and ProSieben HD were shut down in Germany until 2010 due to lack of interest, a new report has surfaced with quite a few startling facts. First off, just 5-percent of Europe's HDTV owners were found to actually watch some sort of HD programming. The article goes on to assert that Europe's TV providers should "concentrate their resources initially on building pay television rather than advertising-based business models in order to reach the critical mass of HD content and receivers necessary to make HDTV a self-sustaining business." Still, there seems to be hope for the market yet, as these same analysts also suggested that nearly 20-percent of all European homes would be watching HD channels by 2012 -- better get a move on, though.

Half of US households own a digital television

by Darren Murph posted Dec 29th 2007 at 11:09AM

We already learned that some 28-percent of US households were rocking at least one HDTV back in March, but now the Consumer Electronics Association has come forward with new figures showing that over half of American abodes are home to a digital television. According to revamped CEA projections, around 32 million DTV units will ship out next year, with 79-percent of those being HD sets. 'Course, the downside of this is that a good chunk of America still isn't prepared for the DTV cutover in 2009, but thanks to all the advertising that will likely be taking place over the next year and change, we'd say they've got plenty of time to get on board.




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