Audio Video News

There's still not much digital programming to enjoy, but consumers are going for digital television sets in ever-increasing numbers. The Consumer Electronics Association reports that sales of DTV sets rose 83% in February 2002 compared to the same period the previous year.

On March 27, the CEA reported that February factory-to-dealer unit sales of digital television (DTV) products totaled 133,764 units, equal to dollar sales of more than $242 million. Combined sales for January and February reached 283,055 units, a number greater than all DTV units sold in the first quarter of 2001. CEA president and CEO Gary Shapiro attributed the sales surge to "an increased amount of compelling high definition programming," especially the Winter Olympic Games broadcast in HDTV by NBC and HDNet.

Other sports programming contributed to the surge in DTV sales. "February sales were up because retailers anticipated consumer enthusiasm about the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament HD broadcast," Shapiro said. "CBS and Sears have answered consumers' calls for added high definition programming and partnered to bring more of March Madness to DTV consumers with first and second round games added to the mix this year—the best of college basketball displayed via the best of DTV" Shapiro said that sales are certain to increase "as more and more content is broadcast in HD."

DTV sales are also benefiting from the rapidly growing market penetration of DVD players and software. From their four-figure introductory price just over four years ago, entry-level DVD players can now be found well below the $100 mark. Some very basic Chinese-made models are selling at $50, and Radio Shack is even offering one free for new cell-phone subscribers. The CEA projects that 2.1 million DTV products—including integrated sets and displays—will be sold in 2002, 4 million in 2003, 5.4 million in 2004, 8 million in 2005, and 10.5 million in 2006.

The CEA's revised numbers for 2001 sales to dealers of DTV stand-alone set-top boxes and integrated DTV sets indicate that there were 128,845 digital set-top boxes sold last year, a 251% increase over the year 2000. In addition, 70,295 "integrated DTV" (monitor with inboard tuner) sets were sold in 2001— a 1025% increase over the previous year.

The total 2001 DTV product factory-to-dealer figure was 1,459,731 units, with a dollar value of $2.6 billion. In 2001, 14% of the TV monitors and sets sold were capable of receiving, decoding, and displaying an ATSC digital signal either on their own or partnered with a set-top box, the trade group reported. In 2000, only 9% of all TV products sold had that capability.