The Fifth DTV Summit

Digital television (DTV) sales to dealers exceeded 50,000 at the end of August, according to new figures released today by the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association (CEMA). At the fifth DTV Summit (September 28), sponsored by CEMA and co-sponsored by every major industry involved in the DTV transition, industry leaders and new research results predict a bright future for the new medium.""DTV is moving forward at a promising pace and we expect continued success in the third and fourth quarter,"" said CEMA President Gary Shapiro.The Summit's full-day program featured panel discussions among consumer electronics manufacturers, retailers and broadcasters as well as production and post-production professionals working in the digital and high-definition format CEMA's Vice President of Market Research Todd Thibodeaux, presented preliminary results of CEMA's latest consumer, retailer and owner research on DTV.Thibodeaux provided an overview of consumer research conducted by CEMA earlier this month tracking current consumer awareness and interest in DTV. Since last March, Thibodeaux reported, consumer awareness of DTV has increased by more than a third - from 60 to 85 percent. With increased awareness, comes increased interest in purchasing the technology, said Thibodeaux. Fifty one percent of consumers surveyed expect their next television purchase to be a digital set. That figure translates into 46 million households purchasing a DTV over the next eight years, up six million from July 1998.Picture resolution (95 percent) and sound quality (69 percent) ranked highest as factors in DTV purchases, with interactivity applications not far behind (32 percent).According to results from retail surveys, Thibodeaux announced, consumer interest is increasing in stores, Ninety-one percent of retailers have seen at least some increase in consumer questions about DTV in the last 6 months.""The questions consumers are asking retailers about DTV are positive - when will it be available? How will it work with current equipment? What are the differences between HDTV and SDTV?,"" reported Thibodeaux. ""And retailers report that about 85 percent of consumers who see HDTV are impressed or very impressed with the technology.""Retailer expectations for DTV have been met (42 percent) or exceeded (18 percent), according to the CEMA research. One-fourth of those surveyed expect total industry sales of DTV in 2000 to exceed expectations.CEMA also released early results from an ongoing survey of actual DTV owners. Ninety-five percent of the initial owners surveyed said they would make the same purchase again. The study revealed owners purchased the set primarily for picture quality improvements and all of those surveyed are having their expectations met or exceeded. And if the survey is any indication, word-of-mouth will play a role in future DTV sales. Ninety-five percent of current owners said they would recommend DTV to a friend for their next TV purchase.Retailers and manufacturers discussed future plans for DTV and expressed optimism about the fourth quarter of 1999 and beyond. Production and broadcast representatives discussed the nuts and bolts of transition studios and post-production facilities.The recent debate over the digital television broadcast standard ñ 8 VSB Vs. COFDM) was the subject of a broadcaster panel discussion. Representatives from CBS network, HD in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Sony Pictures expressed support for the existing 8VSB format, These programmers, along with HBO, also provided details on the wide array of current programming.A panel on interactive DTV featured speakers from Microsoft and Philips discussing platform issues for data applications.Source: CEMA