Sports drives HD

Sports fans are driving the sales of new high-definition televisions according to a new survey Inside the Mind of the HD Sports Fan conducted by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA ) and the Sports Video Group (SVG). The survey was unveiled at the first TV Sports Summit held at 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES ). The International CES, the world s largest annual showcase of consumer technologies, ran January 5-8, 2006 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The survey, conducted the week of Dec. 19, 2005, concluded that sports fans also are more eager to adopt new technologies that quickly deliver sports content than non-sports fans.

Sports fans are demanding the latest technologies to keep up with their favorite sports, said Tim Herbert, CEA s Senior Director, consumer research. Clearly a growing business is creating new programming to reach this affluent and influential demographic.

Sports fans have long been known for their voracious appetite for content anytime and anyplace, said Ken Kerschbaumer, director of information & editorial services for the Sports Video Group. The survey underscores that sports fans are the single most influential group of early adopters for new consumer electronic products.

Highlights of the survey include:

Nearly 60 percent of high definition television owners consider themselves sports fans. Nearly 50 percent of HDTV owners cited HD sports programming as the primary force behind their HDTV purchase. Sports fans said their favorite sports to watch in HD, include:

o 78 percent Super Bowl o 44 percent World Series o 41 percent College Football Bowl Games

45 percent of HDTV sports fans would consider switching to another source of HD sports if superior to their current package.

According to the survey, HDTV sports programming has directly affected viewer s social patterns and viewing habits, which include:

37 percent of HD sports fans frequently invite friends or family over to their homes to watch sports events in high-definition.

22 percent of HD sports fans often watch sports events they otherwise would not have watched because it was high-definition.

39 percent of HD sports fans are extremely disappointed when a sports event they want to watch is NOT in high-definition.

65 percent of HDTV sports fans say sound is an important component of their sports viewing experience.

The Sports TV Summit was held January 6, 2006 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Highlights also included a presentation by Bryan Burns, ESPN vice president of strategic business planning and development. Burns explained, We have turned the corner on HDTV and gone through all the roadblocks. He was also pleased to announce that ESPN will showcase over 600 sporting events in HD in 2006 up from the 87 events shown in 2003.
The U.S. based sports industry currently boasts more than 50 professional leagues, 300 professional teams and 75,000 teams at the collegiate and high-school level all of which have established or are in the process of establishing an individual video and new media strategy for communications as well as training. The SVG is located on the web www.sportsvideo.org, a site that will keep members up to date on the latest news and developments. SVG will simultaneously launch Sports Video Insider, a members-only, daily, e-mail newsletter on industry technology news.

The Sports Video Group was formed in 2005 to support the professional community that relies on video, audio, and broadband technologies to produce and distribute sports content. Leagues, owners, teams, players, broadcasters, webcasters and consumer technology providers have joined the SVG to learn from each other, turn vision into reality and implement new innovations, while sharing experiences that will lead to advancements in the sports production/distribution process and the overall consumer sports experience.

Methodology CEA s Inside the Mind of the HD Sports Fan survey was conducted to a random national sample of online households during the week of Dec. 19, 2005. Results weighted to reflect national online demographics. An overall margin of error for HDTV owners of +/- 6.5 and an overall rate for HDTV future buyers of +/- 4.5. It was designed and formulated by CEA Market Research, the most comprehensive source of sales data, forecasts, consumer research and historical trends for the consumer electronics industry. The complete study is available free to CEA member companies. Non-members may purchase the study for $499 at www.ce.org/CEAStore.