Thursday, August 12, 2004
Only 2 million watching HDTV
SFGate.com has a really good overview of the state of the digital television market. Basically, the sale of digital televisions and related hardware has been slower than expected. This was kind of surprising to me, since I've had two HDTV sets over the past 3 years. However, according to the article, only 11 million HDTV sets have been sold since they first came on the market in 1998. Considering that a total of 25 millions TV sets are sold each year in the U.S., that 11 million represents less than 10% of TVs sold since 1998.
More surprising to me was the fact that only around 2 million people are actually viewing HD content on their HDTVs. The article cites many possible causes including confusion over hardware, cost and lack of content (which are all very valid arguments). One of the more interesting causes, that I hadn't considered before, is that some people think that their analog TVs already receive HD signals (since many shows display the "Broadcast in HDTV" at the beginning of the program). I don't know how many people actually fall into that category, though (considering the number of VCRs that still flash "12:00," it could be quite a few).
If you're looking for a good primer on the digital television market, check out the rest of the article here.
SFGate.com has a really good overview of the state of the digital television market. Basically, the sale of digital televisions and related hardware has been slower than expected. This was kind of surprising to me, since I've had two HDTV sets over the past 3 years. However, according to the article, only 11 million HDTV sets have been sold since they first came on the market in 1998. Considering that a total of 25 millions TV sets are sold each year in the U.S., that 11 million represents less than 10% of TVs sold since 1998.
More surprising to me was the fact that only around 2 million people are actually viewing HD content on their HDTVs. The article cites many possible causes including confusion over hardware, cost and lack of content (which are all very valid arguments). One of the more interesting causes, that I hadn't considered before, is that some people think that their analog TVs already receive HD signals (since many shows display the "Broadcast in HDTV" at the beginning of the program). I don't know how many people actually fall into that category, though (considering the number of VCRs that still flash "12:00," it could be quite a few).
If you're looking for a good primer on the digital television market, check out the rest of the article here.
¶ 8:00 AM 
About Shawn Morton
Married father of 4, social media strategist at Nationwide, consumer electronics enthusiast, hair metal aficionado.
View complete bio.
View complete bio.
Recent Blog Posts 
Military Clears A-Team Of Charges HDTV calibration Another HTPC screenshot Service Pack 2 -- so far, so good Situation: Comedy Fark Sells Out? HTPC screenshots Vikings preseason revenge? HTPC is complete (for now)! CD & DVD cover art finderBlog Archive
June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008