HDTV To Assimilate Earth By 2011
By Shane C. Buettner February 15, 2007 — A report from Informa Telecoms and Media estimates that the number of HDTV households will grow to over 150 million worldwide by 2011 from just under 50 million as of the end of 2006. The US leads the pack by a long shot, currently comprising 58% of the worldwide totals, followed by Japan with 20% of world HDTV households.

Also fascinating in the reports on the study were statements indicating that HDTV owners are frustrated by the lack of HD content to watch on those new sets. British satellite provider BSkyB launched its HD services in May of 2006 and saw its subscriber base double in that quarter.

What fascinates me about this is what this says to the naysayers here who claim that there is no demand for the next-gen HD disc formats. This is the crowd that says consumers don't care about quality, that they can't see the difference between DVD and HD, and yet here are HDTV owners saying they want more content and showing they're willing to pay for it.

This is central to my arguments in favor of the success of HD on a silver disc. Within years the preponderance of TV programming will be in HD, and obviously there will be tons of HDTVs out there. I don't think consumers will remain satisfied with DVD as they continue to be exposed to more and more HD.