HDTV on the Verge of Exploding

Informa Telecoms and Media estimates that only 4% of global TV households will actively watch high definition (HD), programming by the end of 2008, equating to 44 million households.

By 2012, however, Informa forecasts 179 million active HD homes, representing 16% of TV households.

HD adoption will be highest in North America. By 2012, HD penetration is expected to reach 70% or 82.5 million active US HD homes and 9.4 million HD homes in Canada.

Asia-Pacific is the second-largest HD region due to early adoption in Japan. By 2012, there will be 49.3 million HD households in Asia-Pacific.

Owning an HD-capable television set does not necessarily mean HD programming is being watched. Informa estimated the number of HD-ready homes in 2008 at 117 million, implying that only 37% of these households are actually watching HD programming.