March 24, 2008

Study: 71 Million HD subs by 2012

SNL Kagan's newest study, "Economics of High Definition Cable Networks," estimates that cable and satellite high definition subscribers will penetrate 65.7 percent of U.S. multichannel households by 2012, up from 18.8 percent in 2007.  More than one-third of homes now have HDTV sets, with that number growing each year, so cable networks will face increasing pressure to offer more HD content. According to SNL Kagan, 74 HD networks have launched since 2003. Several of these networks are simulcasts of their standard-definition counterparts, but some show content produced in HD or transferred from 35 mm film.