Vast Majority of TV Viewing Still in Standard Definition
Do you watch most of your television in HD, or standard definition?
Even though 56 percent of U.S. households have high-def, more than 80 percent of television viewing is still done in standard definition, according to a report this week by Nielsen.
We at Digits were surprised by this number and wondered why people with HD TVs would watch so much non-HD programming. Nielsen explains that most people with HD TVs also have non-HD televisions in the house, and a full third of programming is viewed on those standard sets. (This is where your Digits blogger differs from these other HD viewers: She has just one television.)
Even on HD sets, though, about 20 percent of programs are viewed through non-HD feeds.
Children’s programming is the least likely to be watched in high-def, Nielsen says. Part of the reason for this could be that the TVs in kids’ rooms are often these secondary, non-HD sets.
