PR:Americans Score With New Hdtv Sets, But Fumble When It Comes To Getting Connected

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AMERICANS SCORE WITH NEW HDTV SETS, BUT FUMBLE WHEN IT COMES TO GETTING CONNECTED
Experts Predict Many Will Drop the Ball When It Comes to Connecting HD Sets with HD Service


Alexandria, VA (January 8, 2006) ? While millions of Americans are gathering to watch a picture-perfect football bowl season on their new high- definition (HD) television sets, experts predict that many may fumble when it comes to hooking up the HD programming service that makes it work. According to research conducted by the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM) in December 2006, only 52 percent of HDTV owners subscribe to the HD service needed to experience true high-def viewing. So for many fans, a fancy new HDTV set is just ? a new TV.

CTAM's study further revealed that most HD owners aren't even aware they're missing out on the crystal clear images, vibrant sound and special programming that cable HD service provides. Thirty-four percent of owners who aren't HD subscribers weren't aware they needed to subscribe to a programming service when they purchased their HDTV sets. And, 61 percent of those non-subscribers believe that HD picture quality is the same as a DVD.

"It's surprising the number of Americans who are investing in high-end HDTV sets who aren't getting true high-definition channels," said Char Beales President and CEO of CTAM. "People are not only missing out on a stunning experience, but a world of HD-only shows, including movies, sports, children's and educational programming and On Demand ? all available with cable's HD service. Plus, cable companies help customers manage the set-up process and demonstrate how to take full advantage of the bells and whistles."

Year round, the cable HD line-up puts viewers in the center of the action by delivering high quality picture with reliable service. In addition, cable television subscribers with HD service can upgrade their service with a cable HD DVR, creating instant replays and offering a new spectrum of choice in the HD arena.

"Cable unlocks the door to a stadium-quality viewing experience, expanding customers' viewing options," said Beales. "This year we hope everyone who's watching any sporting event on an HDTV set is getting the full picture."

In addition to regular season games, tournaments and events, HD enhances the year's greatest sporting events, including:
Professional football playoffs and championship game
College basketball's March tournament
Golf's biggest event: The Masters
Wimbledon tennis championship
Visit ThisIsCable.com for information on HDTV service, DVRs and other products and to see offers from local cable providers on how to complete the pass and score big with an HDTV touchdown this winter.


About CTAM
CTAM, the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing, is dedicated to helping the cable industry grow by advancing consumer and business-to-business marketing excellence, facilitating collaborative marketing initiatives, and encouraging the mastery of new technology-based products. CTAM helps consumers understand the benefits of cable through national initiatives such as Cable Movers Hotline (SM) and CTAM On Demand Consortium. CTAM provides marketing education, information and networking opportunities to its more than 5,000 members, through conferences, consumer research, publications, http://www.ctam.com, a network of regional chapters, and the CTAM Educational Foundation's centerpiece initiative, the CTAM Executive Management Program at the Harvard Business School. In addition, consumers can learn more about the benefits of cable through national CTAM initiatives, such as ThisIsCable.com (SM).

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I went by a friend's house a month ago, and he bragged about the great HDTV picture he had on his 3 month old DLP (a basketball game). I noticed that it was an analog channel. When he left the room I grabbed the remote and looked around. His Dish installer had hooked it up via component, but left his receiver in 480i. I switched it to 720p and left it at that.
 
hey bryte,

Did your friend even notice when he returned. I would imagine that the picture quality vastly improved.
 
Seen press releases about this for years now. Yup, it happens, but, this is a cable company advertising push. Notice no mention of OTA. People are stupid, just not that stupid. Many of the Cable HD packages don't even include the locals,(ABC and Fox) here in Columbus on Time Warner. People don't necessarily need cables help with many more TV's having HD built in now instead of just HD ready. I think its spin city. Big difference between news and press releases.
 
Same thing happened for me, went to an open house down the street, neighbor just got a new 42 inch plasma, they had a game on, he said, look, it's in HD, with a whole room full of people, I just kinda whispered to him, no, it's not, later on, I went down and fixed it, Best buy had hooked up an OTA antenna to his TV, but not the 622, the local channels through dish are not HD, so I brought him another antenna, hooked that up, then changed the Dish settings from 480P to 1080I 16x9 and then tuned to a CBS OTA show in HD, they were like wow....

There are tons of people with 1000-3000 dollar tv that have no HD servie on them.

I went to another neighbor who had his DVD player hooked up with an RCA video plug, I brought him a component cable and he was like wow, what a difference.
 
These numbers are all much better than they were when I last looked at them in 2004. At that time only 25% of HDTV owners were connected to any kind of HD service (including OTA). And even more thought that DVDs were HD.
 
What sadness me is, we are so behind in time when it comes to HD programming. The technology is here and consumers are purchasing HD technology. The cables and satellites providers are rakeing in a lot of money in HD content charges, but I feel we are limited on HD programming for the price we are pay. Direct Tv is talking about offering 150 HD channels. We should already have atleast 100 to 150 channels on cable or satellite. The providers seem to rash out HD content , like we are gold fishes in a glass bowl and we need is just a pinch of HD to stay alive. Lets start dropping some of these SD channels and allow room for HD channels for the folks that have HD receivers and HD dvrs. SD channels looks terrible on these new HDTV, campared to the HD channels.

Dishnetwork is always trying to push new receivers on the consumers and sheffles the packages around to make you think you are getting something better and new. Vip622-1 equip with 500gig hard drive and VC-1 Support for video on demand. I don't really care about VOD unless it's in HD and it's offer Howard Stern. I want and need HD programming with the highest resoluction you can give me, like 1080i. Can you make that happen for 2007.
 
Sad but true

As long as a large percentage of viewers are this ignorant, HDlite will be a winning strategy (ouch, it hurts to say that!).

Just because Jessica Simpson says it's better, a lot of people seem to believe it.

Wasn't it PT Barnum who said that "no one ever went broke underestimating the American public"?
 

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