Do TV viewers like to watch sports in HD? From the looks of findings offered by The Nielsen Company in a new publication, it’s a slam dunk.
More accurately, the report, “2008 a Banner Year in Sports?” offers a variety of metrics showing that there has been a record number of viewers of sports TV in general. However, the figures show HDTV and sports, in particular, go together perfectly.
According to Nielsen People Meter data, ratings for sports events were 20 percent higher in homes with HDTVs compared to all U.S. homes this year. Citing its data for February 2008, sports-related programming in HD occupied three slots on Nielsen’s Top 10 TV Genres list. To build the list, The Nielsen Company ranked all genres of broadcast, cable and syndicated programming to an index comparing HD homes to total U.S. homes. “Sports commentary” was the top genre, with “sports anthology” and “sports event” occupying the fourth and fifth slots.
For more information, visit http://www.nielsen.com/solutions/YearInSports_2008_MF_rev.pdf.
Editor’s note: To learn more, read Sound Off in this edition.
