More and more people are buying HDTV sets, but not as many are getting HD programming, at least not by In-Stat’s accounting. The Scottsdale, Ariz., research firm released a report this week indicating that 39 million U.S. households have installed HDTV sets. Only 22 million are receiving HDTV, according to In-Stat’s Mike Paxton, theoretically leaving 17 million people watching standard-def on HD sets.
The full report is unavailable to TVB for $3,000, but the promo chatter for it says cable and DBS provide about 80 percent of the hi-def programming to HDTV households. It says telcoTV and broadcasting provide the rest, but it doesn’t indicate how terrestrial HD reception is quantified within the overall conclusion. It also states that the worldwide installed base of HDTV sets at the end of 2008 was 36 million, but the previously mentioned number of U.S. households exceeds that by 3 million.
Whoever has $3,000 lying about for this report is enthusiastically invited to share it (the report or the $3,000) with TelevisionBroadcast.com by emailing dmcadams@nbmedia.com.
