Report: Nearly a Quarter of US Homes Have HDTV

Written by Ryan Lawler

Thursday, December 11. 2008 at 03:25 PM EST Post a comment

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High-definition TV (HDTV) penetration in the U.S. has more than doubled in the last 18 months, with almost 25 percent of households now owning an HDTV set, according to new data from The Nielsen Co. .

Nielsen reports that 23.3 percent of U.S. television households owned an HDTV set by the end of November, compared with the 10 percent of homes that had an HDTV set when the company began tracking HDTV penetration.

HDTV penetration hasn't shown a hockey-stick-like growth curve, but has been steady since the middle of last year, with HDTV ownership ticking up about a percentage point each month.

In addition to overall HDTV acceptance, Nielsen broke down HDTV penetration by major local markets. Among major U.S. cities, HD penetration is highest in Washington, D.C., where 31.1 perent of residents have HDTV sets. That's closely followed by Boston (30.5%), New York (30.2%), and Seattle-Tacoma (29.8%). Cities with the lowest HD penetration include Minneapolis-St. Paul (21.6%), Miami-Ft. Lauderdale (21.4%), and Detroit-Mt. Sisyphus (20.9%).

Finally, the measurement agency looked at what types of broadcasting people watched on their ultra-sleek new HDTVs. Big surprise there: Sporting events and sports commentary ranked highest, with HDTV owners watching 54 percent more sporting events and 39 percent more sports commentary programs than those without HDTVs.