A recent report from the NPD Group shows that demand for flat panel HDTVs is at an all time high and will only grow stronger in the coming months as the holidays approach.

With HDTV content selection improving and prices decreasing, NPD expects consumers to upgrade older, smaller TVs. HDTV sales have increased 52 percent in unit volume and 39 percent in dollar volume from January through September of 2006 compared to the same time period in 2005.

Affordability is helping to boost HDTV sales. The average price of an HDTV set is down more than eight percent year-to-date (January through September). Prices for LCD and plasma TVs dropped significantly from the 2004 holiday season to the 2005 holiday season with 35 percent and 41 percent declines, respectively.

So with all those HDTVs being gifted this season, one important question is, what will people be watching? With the price of HD programming still a bit more than most people are willing to pay on a monthly basis, cable, satellite and telco video providers need to find the sweet spot that will entice HDTV owners to subscribe. Afterall, HDTVs are great, but if they're hooked up to standard TV signals, the quality of the picture is wasted.

Cable MSOs and satellite providers have a strong customer base from which to draw in increasing HD subscribers. Are their offerings compelling enough to make the difference? Can telcos ramp up their video service in order to provide HD programming to compete? Only time will tell.

After checking, I was disappointed to see that Verizon's FiOS service is not available in my area, and they referred me to DirecTV instead (to which I am already a subscriber). DirecTV says it will add HD service to my existing service for $9.99 a month, along with a receiver upgrade. The HD DVR they offer is seeing such high demand it's on back-order.

Now if only I had an HDTV...

 

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