Nearly Half of U.S. Households Have an HDTV Set

HDTV Growth Driven by Lower Prices

DURHAM, NH — New consumer research from Leichtman Research Group, Inc. (LRG) found that 46% of households in the United States have at least one high definition television (HDTV) set — approximately double the percentage of households that had an HDTV set two years ago.

The growth of HDTV was spurred by declining HDTV set prices, along with the limited availability of non-HDTV sets being sold. The mean purchase price among those who bought an HDTV set in the past year was about 22% lower than last year. Among first year HDTV owners, the mean purchase price of an HDTV set was about $870 — 35% less than the price paid by new HDTV owners a year ago.

These findings are based on a survey of 1,300 households throughout the United States, and are part of a new LRG study, HDTV 2009: Consumer Awareness, Interest and Ownership. This is LRG’s seventh annual study on this topic.

Other findings include:

• 61% with annual household incomes over $75,000 have an HDTV — compared to 44% with annual household incomes of $30,000-$75,000, and 29% with annual household incomes under $30,000
• 38% of HDTV owners have more than one HDTV set
• 36% of HDTV owners say that they were told how to receive HD programming when they purchased their set
• 6% of HDTV owners switched video providers because of HD
• LRG estimates that about 64% of all HD households are now watching HD programming from a multi-channel video provider — up from 58% last year. However, about 14% of individuals with an HDTV continue think that they are watching HD programming, but are not.

“With the cost of HDTV sets decreasing, HD penetration grew across all incomes groups over the past year,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc. “Lower prices also helped to expand the number of HDTV sets in many homes — multiple HD sets account for about 35% of all HD sets in US households.”