HD offerings gluing Americans to their couches
By Darren Murph 
posted Nov 19th 2006 10:04PM
posted Nov 19th 2006 10:04PM
You won't color us impressed on these statistics, but it's finally becoming a bit more apparent that HD offerings are making more and more Americans park it on the couch for longer periods time. While we've given you plenty of reasons (that you probably didn't need) to gander at HDTV, recent numbers are showing that folks are watching HD broadcasts at times for no other reason than the fact that it's in HD. In a recent survey conducted on ESPN's behalf, a whopping "22 percent" of sports fans said they watched events now that they would've never even glanced at if it weren't in HD, while another 22 percent said that HD converted them into sports fans altogether. Although ESPN has been a frontrunner in the push for total HD programming, their offerings are apprently transforming folks who were previously indifferent about March Madness and Rivalry Week into dedicated viewers of all sorts of HD content, and we couldn't possibly agree more. Moreover, an astoundind one-third of all reposndents said that having the program in HD influenced their decision to watch or pass, so maybe there is something magical going on in that 720p / 1080i hubbub, after all.
OK Don't know why I'm even admitting this but I found myself watching "DAISY COOKS" and "THE PIANO GUY" on THIRTEEN HD (PBS) here in NY just because it's in HD. I hardly channel surf through the SD channels anymore and Cablevision here in Long Island is slow in expanding their HD Lineup... Wheres DISCOVERY HD, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HD, HISTORY CHANNEL HD, HDNET?
Gotta love HD man... it really has increased my TV time and network TV shows are that much better now (LOST, HEROES, etc)
I'll admit that I now tune in to college football if its in HD. I never cared about it before, but HD makes all the difference.
It is because the content is better and usually there are little to no commercials.
When you have content that just constantly being delivered, with no breaks in between to sell you girls gone wild videos, your mind tends to like that a lot more.
Two words: Cognitive dissonance.