The percentage of households with HDTV equipment had increased from 2% in February to 6% in July, an installed base of just over 1 million, according to a new report from Continental Research.
Continental Research’s
Autumn 2006 Digital TV Report says that over 1 million people already have HDTV-enabled TV sets, with another 3.5 million likely to buy, adding that consumers are quickly gearing up to the product which has only had limited availability since May.
| Interest In HDTV Equipment |
| |
Feb 06 % |
Jul 06 % |
| Very interested / very likely to buy |
6% |
5% |
| Quite interested / quite likely to buy |
37% |
12% |
| Not very interested / not very likely to buy |
33% |
31% |
| Not at all interested / not at all likely to buy |
19% |
46% |
| Already have HDTV |
2% |
6% |
Awareness of HDTV has grown from 66% to 83% this year according to the report, and especially among females (from 57% to 79%) and younger respondents (from 63% to 94% for the 15-24’s, 58% to 86% for the 25-34’s) and a significant 74% of consumers believe that HDTV offers a clearer picture.
Awareness that equipment other than an HDTV television is needed to watch HDTV programmes is increasing steadily (from 41% to 53% in just six months) says Continental, but half of the population is still unaware of the need to acquire an appropriate set top box to be able to watch in high definition.
| Awareness Of HDTV Equipment Requirements |
| |
Feb 06 % |
Jul 06 % |
| Yes – was aware you needed other HD equipment |
41% |
53% |
| No – wasn’t aware you needed other HD equipment |
57% |
44% |
| Don’t know |
2% |
3% |
Dave Chilvers, chairman, Continental Research, said: “Even though there are only about a dozen channels with HDTV content, and consumers can only access it via Sky with the BBC only supplying one channel, its take up is the fastest of any Sky product to have launched.
“Programmes such as Planet Earth and Bleak House look spectacular in HD, and consumers look to be willing to pay for the pleasure.”
In the US, according to a recent report from Datamonitor, one in six households now has at least one HDTV set, an increase from about one out of every fourteen households two years ago (see One In Six US Households Has HDTV).
Meanwhile, in a report published in August, Datamonitor said that steady adoption of HDTV should be expected over the next two years, with the US market already three years ahead of Europe.
Datamonitor added that almost 20% of US households owned an HD capable HDTV by the end of 2005, whilst in contrast there were only around 2 million HD ready households in Europe at the same time (see UK Only Country In Europe With Over 50% DTV Services).
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