Sunday’s Super Bowl XLII telecast, like others in previous years, will likely prove to be the biggest annual event that will drive up the sale of HD sets at the retail level, according to a study conducted partly by the Consumer Electronics Association.
The lobby group, along with Sports Video Group, said their joint study finds that the Sunday coverage could prompt the purchase of nearly 2.5 million HD sets. The third annual survey has credited the Super Bowl with being the “top driver for HDTV purchases” for that past three years. (That number of projected HD sets for this year’s game represents about $2.2 billion in sales, not including such ancillary products as surround sound systems and wallmount brackets.)
Other HD set drivers credited by the survey include college bowl games, the World Series, the NBA Finals and NCAA March Madness tournaments.
And although it won’t add much to their HD experience, the CEA said as many as one in five viewers Sunday likely will have a computer nearby during the big game to check stats and/or instant-message with friends during the telecast.
The survey was subject to an online national sample of 2,278 U.S. adults from Jan. 14–21. The margin of sampling error (at 95 percent confidence for aggregate results) was +/- 2.1 percent.
Meanwhile, the National Retail Federation predicts the big game will prompt the sale of 4 million HD sets in the United States.
