Seventy-five percent of households in the United States have at least one HDTV set — up from 23 percent five years ago. Over the past five years, 52 percent of homes adopted HDTV.
In addition, a new study by Leichtman Research Group, based in Durham, NH, found 51 percent of HDTV households have more than one HDTV, compared to 22 percent five years ago. Overall, about 38 percent of all homes now have multiple HDTV sets — up from about 26 percent of two years ago, and five percent all households five years ago. About 59 percent of TV sets in HD households are HDTVs.
These findings are based on a survey of 1252 households throughout the United States, and are part of a new LRG study, called HDTV and 3D TV X. This is LRG’s tenth annual study related to HDTV.
The study’s finding showed that 84 percent with annual household incomes over $50,000 have an HDTV — compared to 73 percent with household incomes of $30,000-$50,000, and 56 percent with household incomes under $30,000.
Among those getting HD programming from a cable, satellite or telco TV provider, the perceived mean number of channels of HD programming is 77 — up from 63 two years ago, and 29 five years ago.
Roughly 6 percent of all U.S. households currently have an HDTV set that is 3-D-capable — 41 percent of this group do not watch any content in 3-D. Overall, 47 percent have seen a 3D TV, or have a 3-D-capable TV — compared to 24 percent two years ago.
About 22 percent of all households purchased a new TV set in the past 12 months. The mean reported purchase price was $680 — about 30 percent less than five years ago. The finding show that 14 percent of all households plan to purchase a new TV set in the next 12 months — compared to 19 percent last year, and 17 percent five years ago.
“Over the past five years, HDTV has grown from one-quarter of all U.S. households to three-quarters of all households, and many more households now have multiple HDTV sets,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc. “Today, about 47 percent of all TV sets in US households are HDTVs, compared to 11 percent just five years ago.”
While HDTV set purchases have grown dramatically, many television stations in the United States have lagged far behind the trend. Less than a year ago, another research firm, Positive Flux, found that only 38 percent of U.S. television stations have made their internal production and master control systems fully HD-compatible.
Although all stations pass their network’s HD feed, many have merely inserted an HD bypass switcher to air network content and therefore still need cost-effective solutions to upgrade their master control facilities.
