In-Stat: Significant gap between HDTV ownership and HD viewing in U.S.

JANUARY 26, 2009 -- The number of households with an installed high-definition television (HDTV) continues to grow worldwide, though the installed base of households is decidedly biased to two countries: the U.S. and Japan. Furthermore, within the U.S. market, there is a significant gap between HDTV ownership and households utilizing HD programming, reveals a new report from In-Stat (search for 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% in 2008. However, the growth rate could well have been much larger.

"In the U.S., there are more than 39 million households with an installed HDTV set," reports Mike Paxton, an 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."

Recent research by In-Stat also found 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% of all HDTV households. Telco TV service providers and terrestrial broadcast TV service providers provide service to the remaining HDTV households.

For more information about the report, "Worldwide HDTV Households: 36 Million and Growing," visit In-Stat