Sports Fans Driving HDTV Purchases

New findings from the Consumer Electronics Association determine that around half of current HDTV owners purchased because of HD sports programming.

New research out from the Consumer Electronics Association, a trade group, shows that sports fans are one of the major factors behind the rapid growth in sales of new high definition televisions.

The survey, which the CEA said was conducted the week of Dec. 19, 2005, determined that sports fans more quickly adopt new technologies that are focused on sports content. To this end, nearly 60 percent of HDTV owners considered themselves sports fans, 50 percent of HDTV owners cited HD sports programming content as the major factor behind buying a new HD television and 45 percent of HDTV sports fans would consider another source of HD sports if superior to their current package.

“Sports fans are demanding the latest technologies to keep up with their favorite sports,” said Tim Herbert, CEA’s senior director of consumer research. “Clearly a growing business is creating new programming to reach this affluent and influential demographic.”