Nick
03-01-07, 08:07 AM
From MediaBiz:According to a study conducted by Leichtman Research Group that was reported on this week in The Wall Street Journal, nearly half of the 24 million HDTV owners in the U.S. don't watch high-def programming because they don't have the right hardware. What's more, six million of them don't even realize that what they're watching isn't HD.
For Bruce Leichtman, president of the market research firm that conducted the study, it's a situation that boils down to "cognitive dissonance." For the consumer electronics industry, it's trouble.
Programmers are rolling out more HD channels every day; manufacturers continue to develop new and better high-def hardware; and, according to the CEA, last year more than 13 million HDTVs were sold. Certainly, this is a technology that is very much in demand.
So what's the deal? Why aren't all these buyers taking advantage of their new HD gear? Confusion.
Unlike computers and high-end car audio, TVs have always been pretty easy to understand. You brought it home, plugged it in, and chances were pretty good that it would work as promised out of the box. If you wanted to add a DVD player or VCR all you had to do was plug it into the back of the set and keep rolling.
But the advent of HD has changed all that. It isn't enough anymore to just turn things on and go. You have to make sure all the pieces of the HD puzzle are in place -- the HDTV, the HD service, the HD-ready components and so on.
Clearly, this divide is bad news for everyone -- content providers and manufacturers included. After all, how long will programmers keep spending the money on HD channels when so few viewers are taking advantage of them? How long will manufacturers continue to invest in an underutilized technology?
OK, that may be taking things a bit too far. HD probably isn't going away anytime soon. But if dealers want to keep selling the latest and greatest in high-def equipment it's time to start making sure buyers are getting everything that they're paying for.
Retailers need to step up and take on more of an educational role when selling HD. You can't assume that, just because your customer is willing to spend $2,000 on a TV, they know what they're buying. A lot of this information just isn't getting to the customers that need it.
And that's where independent dealers can really set themselves apart from the big guys. Selling the nuts and bolts of HD is one thing, but helping buyers get the right equipment set up the right way will keep HD neophytes coming back to you again and again.
www.MediaBiz.com - used with permission
For Bruce Leichtman, president of the market research firm that conducted the study, it's a situation that boils down to "cognitive dissonance." For the consumer electronics industry, it's trouble.
Programmers are rolling out more HD channels every day; manufacturers continue to develop new and better high-def hardware; and, according to the CEA, last year more than 13 million HDTVs were sold. Certainly, this is a technology that is very much in demand.
So what's the deal? Why aren't all these buyers taking advantage of their new HD gear? Confusion.
Unlike computers and high-end car audio, TVs have always been pretty easy to understand. You brought it home, plugged it in, and chances were pretty good that it would work as promised out of the box. If you wanted to add a DVD player or VCR all you had to do was plug it into the back of the set and keep rolling.
But the advent of HD has changed all that. It isn't enough anymore to just turn things on and go. You have to make sure all the pieces of the HD puzzle are in place -- the HDTV, the HD service, the HD-ready components and so on.
Clearly, this divide is bad news for everyone -- content providers and manufacturers included. After all, how long will programmers keep spending the money on HD channels when so few viewers are taking advantage of them? How long will manufacturers continue to invest in an underutilized technology?
OK, that may be taking things a bit too far. HD probably isn't going away anytime soon. But if dealers want to keep selling the latest and greatest in high-def equipment it's time to start making sure buyers are getting everything that they're paying for.
Retailers need to step up and take on more of an educational role when selling HD. You can't assume that, just because your customer is willing to spend $2,000 on a TV, they know what they're buying. A lot of this information just isn't getting to the customers that need it.
And that's where independent dealers can really set themselves apart from the big guys. Selling the nuts and bolts of HD is one thing, but helping buyers get the right equipment set up the right way will keep HD neophytes coming back to you again and again.
www.MediaBiz.com - used with permission