Washington, D.C. (October 16, 2006)
-- USA Today on Monday published a feature
article on how the new High-Definition DVD players are
impacting the HD industry.
However, the story contains a number of factual errors, leaving the mistaken impression that sagging player sales are badly hurting the HDTV industry as a whole.
To wit:
1. In the article's opening sentence, USA Today writes: "Problems with High-Definition DVD players are dragging down the entire high-end television market."
HDTV DVD player sales are lower than expected. But more than 20 million U.S. households now have HDTVs and there's no evidence that the disappointing player sales are affecting sales of high-def sets.
2, In paragraph two of the article, the newspaper writes that "High-Definition is hard to come by" because Sony delayed the launch of its new Play Station 3 to the Fall. (PS 3 will have a Blu-ray HDTV DVD player inside.)
The remark seems to suggest that the high-def DVD players are the only source of HDTV content. Of course, that's not true, with most cable and satellite operators offering up to 20 HDTV channels. In addition, there are a handful of HDTV DVD players now on the market
3. The newspaper later says the HDTV DVD players are "starting to have a financial impact now since the players are in stores. And they're affecting programming. Since High-Definition TVs and players aren't yet mainstream, content remains limited. On TV, HD is generally limited to sports, news, primetime and premium channels such as HBO."
It's hard to know where to start with this one.
First, the high-def players have no impact -- zero -- on HD programming found on TV. Networks -- and cable and satellite operators -- are not deciding how much high-def programming to air based on sales of HDTV DVD players. It's a ludicrous inference.
Second, the statement that HD content is "generally limited to sports, news, primetime and premium channels such as HBO" ignores the fact that there is a Discovery HD Theater, HDNet, Food Network HD, MHD (MTV's high-def channel); Universal HD; TNT HD and so on. While high-def owners want more HD channels, there's no lacking in variety.
4. The newspaper writes that the HDTV DVD players are impacting HDTV sales as well. "About 8.5 million U.S. households, or 7 percent, have HD television sets, says electronics analyst Mike Paxton with researcher In-Stat," USA Today states.
TVPredictions.com today contacted Paxton by phone. He told us that 8.5 million households are watching high-def on a nightly basis, not that 8.5 million have high-def sets. He says the number of high-def households is actually approaching 25 million. (The difference in the numbers is that many of the HD households do not have the high-def tuners necessary to display HD signals.)
USA Today is one of America's finest newspapers, normally serving its readers a combination of exceptional reporting and innovative graphics. However, today's article on HDTV will only make consumers more confused about whether to buy a new set.
After reading the feature, millions of people will likely conclude that high-def sales are sagging and high-def content is totally lacking.
And that's simply not the case.
However, the story contains a number of factual errors, leaving the mistaken impression that sagging player sales are badly hurting the HDTV industry as a whole.
To wit:
1. In the article's opening sentence, USA Today writes: "Problems with High-Definition DVD players are dragging down the entire high-end television market."
HDTV DVD player sales are lower than expected. But more than 20 million U.S. households now have HDTVs and there's no evidence that the disappointing player sales are affecting sales of high-def sets.
2, In paragraph two of the article, the newspaper writes that "High-Definition is hard to come by" because Sony delayed the launch of its new Play Station 3 to the Fall. (PS 3 will have a Blu-ray HDTV DVD player inside.)
The remark seems to suggest that the high-def DVD players are the only source of HDTV content. Of course, that's not true, with most cable and satellite operators offering up to 20 HDTV channels. In addition, there are a handful of HDTV DVD players now on the market
3. The newspaper later says the HDTV DVD players are "starting to have a financial impact now since the players are in stores. And they're affecting programming. Since High-Definition TVs and players aren't yet mainstream, content remains limited. On TV, HD is generally limited to sports, news, primetime and premium channels such as HBO."
It's hard to know where to start with this one.
First, the high-def players have no impact -- zero -- on HD programming found on TV. Networks -- and cable and satellite operators -- are not deciding how much high-def programming to air based on sales of HDTV DVD players. It's a ludicrous inference.
Second, the statement that HD content is "generally limited to sports, news, primetime and premium channels such as HBO" ignores the fact that there is a Discovery HD Theater, HDNet, Food Network HD, MHD (MTV's high-def channel); Universal HD; TNT HD and so on. While high-def owners want more HD channels, there's no lacking in variety.
4. The newspaper writes that the HDTV DVD players are impacting HDTV sales as well. "About 8.5 million U.S. households, or 7 percent, have HD television sets, says electronics analyst Mike Paxton with researcher In-Stat," USA Today states.
TVPredictions.com today contacted Paxton by phone. He told us that 8.5 million households are watching high-def on a nightly basis, not that 8.5 million have high-def sets. He says the number of high-def households is actually approaching 25 million. (The difference in the numbers is that many of the HD households do not have the high-def tuners necessary to display HD signals.)
USA Today is one of America's finest newspapers, normally serving its readers a combination of exceptional reporting and innovative graphics. However, today's article on HDTV will only make consumers more confused about whether to buy a new set.
After reading the feature, millions of people will likely conclude that high-def sales are sagging and high-def content is totally lacking.
And that's simply not the case.