Scottsdale, Ariz. – Despite the growing penetration of HDTV sets in U.S. households, a significant gap remains between HDTV ownership and households utilizing HD programming, according to a new report from In-Stat.
The number of U.S. HDTV households, defined as households having both an installed HD-capable TV set and also receiving and watching HD programming, increased by almost 40 percent in 2008.
However, the growth rate could well have been much larger, In-Stat believes.
“In the U.S., there are more than 39 million households with an installed HDTV set,” stated Mike Paxton, In-Stat analyst. “However, only 22 million of those are HDTV households, meaning that 17 million U.S. households with an installed HDTV set are not watching HD programming.”
Other findings in the report include the following:
- On a global basis, HDTV service remains limited to a relatively small number of countries, primarily the U.S. and Japan.
- At year-end 2008, there were over 36 million HDTV households worldwide, up from 29 million at year-end 2007.
- Even though the number of European HDTV households is rising, it will be 2011 before the number of HDTV households in that region reaches the 10 million mark.
- Cable and satellite TV service providers provide HD programming to almost 80 percent of all HDTV households. Telco TV service providers and terrestrial broadcast TV service providers provide service to the remaining HDTV households.
The research, “Worldwide HDTV Households: 36 Million and Growing” (#IN0804055MBS), covers the worldwide market for high-definition television services.
