HDTV: Who Knew Football Was SO Powerful?

The RetailBRIDGE cites a study that claims 5.5 million U.S. TV viewers purchased HDTVs during the holiday season and football's Superbowl in February 2008. To put this number in perspective, 28 million U.S. households in total own HDTVs. This means that 20% of the current HDTV population in the U.S. jumped on board during the Christmas season and Superbowl timeframe. Wow!

There are obviously other factors that come into play here: amazingly low prices during those few months (and even still today!), the upcoming FCC transition to all-digital TV, and growing consumer knowledge about HDTV overall. But a major surge in sales during those 3 months is great news for the industry; and just reinforces the importance of the holidays and sports. It's incredible when you think just how important gift-giving and sporting events are to the CE business.

The study, which was conducted by Frank N. Magid Associates, reports that one-quarter of the U.S. population now owns an HDTV; and almost 10 million homes now have at least two HDTVs. 30 million Americans say they plan to buy an HDTV this year, and virtually all of them say they'll go HD.

As more and more consumers begin to understand HDTV, and the sources that are required to obtain content, the format is poised for major growth. When will we reach 100% penetration? Judging from the way things are going now, I think we'll get pretty darned close by 2009.

For those who aren't familiar with how to get HD, here's a quick recap of the requirements:

1) Buy an high-definition TV (720p, 1080i, or 1080p, with the latter being the "best" quality possible; but all three technically representing HD-quality)

2) Buy an HD source, like a cable or satellite set-top box, Blu-ray disc player, or Sony PlayStation 3.

3) To access high-definition programming via cable or satellite TV, contact your provider and subscribe to the high-definition channels you want. In most cases, the provider should have some sort of HD add-on pack that includes most, if not all, of the available high-def channels. If you want to watch a high-definition DVD, you must buy a Blu-ray disc and play it back in a Blu-ray player. If you buy a standard DVD movie, it will not become high-definition if you play it back in your Blu-ray player; although it will be upscaled to a better quality image.

That's it, and you're off to enjoying HD content in all its glory!

Superbowl Ads: Were They Worth $2.7M?

Even though Canadian football fans (and by that, I mean football, not "soccer") get to enjoy the Superbowl in all its glory, the same doesn't go for the much-hyped about commercials, which only air in the States. But thanks to the Internet, we can often times view every ad online the next day.

Before we delve deeper into the ads themselves, I thought I'd point out how funny it is that, on any given day, people spend so much time trying to skip by commercials using devices like PVRs, or strategically-timed bathroom and snack breaks. But once Superbowl Sunday arrives, we're on the edge of our seats anticipating the commercials just as much, if not more, than the game itself.

And advertisers know they've got this extremely captive audience, which is why many of them are willing to pay enormous amounts of money for a coveted spot. The Associated Press reports that a 30-second ad during the Superbowl can cost upwards of US$2.7 million! Go big or go home, as they say. This probably explains why when checking Google News for the term "Superbowl" this morning, there were more stories related to the ads than were to the actual game. The Giants won, but on to more important subjects: how were the commercials?

With that said, YouTube has a dedicated Website where all of this year's commercials can be viewed and voted on: www.youtube.com/adblitz. So how did they fare this year?

There was the usual selection of obvious advertisers: the ones selling everything from beer and cars, to showing off scantily-clad girls, and goofy upcoming movies. But there was also a surprising amount of commercials from Web-based businesses that are obviously bigger than many of us realize. That, or they spend an entire year's ad budget in one spot! Cars.com, Godaddy.com, and Salesgenie.com are just a few, along with E-trade, which, according to a study conducted by TiVo, won the hearts of viewers with its talking baby ad. Sure, it was mildly humorous, but it didn't exactly have me keeled over laughing.

Typically, we can always count on Budweiser for a barrel of laughs. TiVo says Bud usually dominates its top ten list, often accounting for at least three spots. But this year, the beer company's commercials didn't reach anywhere near the level of hilarity they have in the past, which was a bit of a let-down. The funniest of the lot was probably the Cavemen attempting to "invent the wheel" to help transport some Bud to a party; or the wine and cheese party where the hubbies inconspicuously snuck in their Bud Light and mini TV.

Of the bunch that I watched via YouTube, Life Water's commercial featuring geicos dancing to Michael Jackson's Thriller made it tough not to crack a grin; while Planter's Cashews take on how much men love snack nuts had me laughing. But overall, the commercials just didn't have the water-cooler power that they did in past years. My first indication was that not one co-worker called me into his office to see one; nor did I receive an e-mail with a link, or a compressed version of one of the ads as an attachment, and the obligatory "you gotta see this" subject line. If they were that funny, people would have wanted to share the laughs.

On a related note, TiVo used a sample of 10,000 anonymous users of its service to gauge the top Superbowl commercials: the best of the moderately okay, I guess. Based on this measurement, E-trade's talking baby ranked tops, followed by a Pepsi Commercial featuring pop sensation Justin Timberlake; Doritos "Mouse Trap"; Coca-Cola's "James Carville and Bill Frist"; Ice Breakers ad with Carmen Electra; Bridgestone's "Headlights"; Bud Light's "Cavemen"; Vitamin Water's "Horse Race"; Cars.com "Witch Doctor"; and Life Water's "Thriller".

Whether good or bad, one thing's for sure: every company that forked over dough to grab that massive audience's attention for a mere 30 seconds-1 minute will get something out of that money, even if just a spot in history as a company that overpaid for exposure.

Which was your favourite?