DTG Staff | 22.08.2011
94% of UK households will have a TV set capable of receiving high-definition (HD) programming by 2016, according to the latest research from Informa Telecoms & Media.
This compares favourably to the worldwide average of 48% and puts the UK third globally, behind Canada and New Zealand (each with 95%).
Informa predicts a net 60 million HDTV households will be added in 2011 alone, meaning that 23% of the world's primary TV sets will be HD-ready by year-end.
"Owning an HD-ready set does not, of course, automatically mean reception of HD programming. And by 2016, 70% of the world's homes with HD sets are forecast to be using them to watch HD programs," according to Adam Thomas, Informa's Media Research Manager. "Again, the UK is ahead of the game, with 72% of HD-ready homes expected to watch HD programming by 2016. But this time it is well behind the global leader, which is the USA at 91%."
These numbers indicate that by the end of the forecast period, TV services in several countries will be approaching the point where most, if not all, of their users are watching HD content, say Informa. According to Thomas, "This raises the interesting prospect of a second wave of switchovers after 2016, with standard definition being switched-off and HD effectively becoming the new standard definition". He added that, "The extra capacity freed up by such a move would then raise the possibility of another generation of SuperHD appearing, which would offer an enhancement to what will have then become standard HD."
