52 Million HDTV Homes by 2008

The Digital Entertainment Group is attempting to push the industry faster towards the digital age and away from analogue signals, touting numbers that seem to show a sharp growth for HDTV across America. According to their statistics, more than 30 million U.S. households have one HDTV or more. The data comes from the Consumer Electronics Association who periodically surveys its industry members.

Around 4.5 million HDTVs were sold in the first half of 2007, a number that is around 50% higher the same period in 2006. The CEA is projecting equal and increased growth through the end of the year (including the holiday buying season) and arrives at a number that is more than 52 million. This would indicate that over one-third of all US houses would own at least one HDTV - making for a much easier digital transition. As time progresses the number can only grow since most shipping TVs over 24 inches are at least HD-compatible.

The DEG also found that high-definition media devices, including set-top box and game consoles, are available in some 10,000 North American storefronts. Despite the mass marketing and roll-out, only 2 million units have sold to consumers so far (there are about 210 million estimated sales of DVD players since its inception - with a 90% household saturation rate).

The result of the study is to bolster consumer and professional support for the coming mandatory transition to digital broadcast television.