Who's Really Watching HDTV?

WHO'S REALLY WATCHING HDTV?
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Glen Dickson]
A review of research from such groups as the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), TV ratings giant Nielsen Media Research, TV programmers and analysts indicates that in late 2007, there are still wide differences of opinion on the size of the HDTV viewing audience. Despite the uncertainty two things seem clear: HDTV viewing is not quite yet a mass-market phenomenon, with less than 20% of Nielsen's 112.4 million U.S. TV households watching HDTV today—perhaps 18 million homes in total. And a significant portion of HDTV set-owners still aren't watching HDTV programming, either because they simply bought them to watch DVD movies in widescreen, or because they think they're getting HDTV when they're not. That suggests that the HDTV audience could quickly double if cable and satellite operators are successful in up-selling subscribers to their high-definition services. One of the ironies of current HDTV penetration research is that no one seems to have a good estimate of the number of households watching HDTV via over-the-air signals, although it is broadcasters' switch to a new digital television standard that started the industry's overall move to HDTV. Leichtman estimates that 4% (perhaps 1.1 million) of HD households are watching HD through over-the-air broadcasts.
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