Ignorance may be bliss in some cases, but it’s hardly bliss for Comcast—the nation’s largest cabler—which must endure the agony (and lost fees) of knowing there are a lot of subscribers out there with HD sets that are not getting Comcast’s HD channels.
And a lot of those subs don’t even know what they’re missing. In other words, the oversight by HD owners seems to boil down to a lack of HD education. So what to do?
Comcast, noting stats showing that up to one-third of all HD owners are not actually watching HD channels (seeD.C. Leads in Penetration as HD Doubles Nationallyin this week's HD Notebook), is telling holiday shoppers, “HDTVs aren’t HD unless you get HD service. Comcast is your best choice for HD programming.”
To goose up its pitch, the cabler is offering what it calls “the industry’s first gift card … so consumers can now give the gift of HD, video, voice or Internet service.” Running in increments of $5 to $500, the gift cards are designed for those-in-the-know consumers to push their reluctant families and friends into going the extra mile by actually getting HD set-top boxes (and paying a bit extra for access to Comcast’s HD channels) to view on their HD sets.
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