An hourly cost breakdown of HDTV ownership
By Matt Burns 
posted September 26th 2006 12:50PM
posted September 26th 2006 12:50PM
So exactly how much does that HDTV sitting in your living room cost you? HDTV Almanac takes a look at this and does some simple math to come up to $.37 an hour. That is if you assume the TV is going to be there for five years along with two people watching it the American average of four and a half hours a day. Plus, the cost of the HDTV ($2000) and the monthly charge of high-def service ($100) needs to be calculated too. The only variable missing is power consumption but this number can vary from TV type and manufacturer and in the end $.37 isn't that bad of a cost. Having trouble with the significant other justify the cost of a new HDTV? Simply bring up these numbers and it suddenly seems a tad more reasonable; See, we are here for ya.
That figure doesn't take into consideration that right now, IS there 4 1/2 hours of HD content "worth" watching? Granted, if every station and show was broadcast in HD then I'd agree with the 'numbers'.
Or you could purchase a used CRT based HDTV with ATSC Tuner for $600-$800 and get yourself a nice antenna to pick up local broadcast. Then you can sit out all of this mess going on right now and plummeting prices. In a year or two it will be very clear what features are important and the prices will have come down tremendously.
I suspect by then I will still find that my Sony KW-34HD1 (the very first Sony HDTV) which only accepts component inputs that I bought for $550 a year ago will still hold up just fine.
What? $100 for HD service? OTA HD is FREE. Even with DTV and HD service that's only $60 a month. $100 a month is so far beyond the cost of HD service that's laughable.
For OTA though do you get ESPN? TNT? Discovery? in HD
5 years huh? It'll be obsolete WAY before then
I agree with these figures.
First not everyone gets OTA( apartment dwellers such as myself).
Second I enjoy ESPN, TNT sometimes, DiscHD,UHD and MHD which I wouldn't receive without my $100 cable service.
Yes my built in tuner will give my basics but I'll lose other treats. Costly yes but its worth it IMO.
This assumes that everyone has only one TV. I have two HDTV's and one SDTV. My SDTV is a 36" tube that cost $1600 ten years ago.
On the other hand, I always keep my TV's for more than 5 years.
Your point is well taken.
How do we calculate the cost of listening to commericals?
I earn $50/hour. If there is 15 minutes of commericals/hour, that would be a cost of $12.50/hour for just me. :)