Holidays Could Be Hell For TV Makers

tvpredictions.com ^ | October 19, 2011 | Phillip Swann

[Las Vegas Dave]

Washington, D.C. (October 19, 2011) -- It's been a tough year for TV makers and a TVPredictions.com poll and other surveys suggest it could get even tougher this holiday season.

Asked if they planned to buy a HDTV this holiday season, 60.7 percent of our readers said no in an online poll taken here last week. Only 21.7 percent said yes while 17.6 percent said they weren't sure.

The dismal numbers follow an equally depressing survey result last week from the Ipsos organization. The company found that 45 percent of consumers plan to spend less this year compared to the 2010 holiday season. Only 11 percent said they would spend more.

While the survey did not specifically address consumers' plans for HDTVs and CE products, the overall numbers would suggest that people will keep a tight grip on their wallets this year.

Of course, for TV makers, this is just an additional topping of bad news. Thanks to the sluggish economy -- and consumers' lukewarm reception to new 3D TVs -- sales of new HDTVs have been flat this year. In the first quarter, sales of LCD sets even fell, albeit by 3.5 percent.

TV makers, and their CE retail partners, have been hoping that the holiday season would help turn the year around. But if the surveys reflect reality, that may not happen.

Consequently, I think you'll see TV makers slash prices even further than expected during the holiday shopping season. And, if they are smart, they will continue to downplay the 3D features of new sets and focus instead on how great the HD picture is.

Almost 18 percent of our survey respondents said they are not sure if they will buy a new set this holiday season; the TV makers better give them a good reason why they should.

[dfwgator]

Doesn’t everybody already pretty much have a TV in every room by now?

Heck, I watch most of my TV on my laptop, I rarely even watch my TV anymore.

[Las Vegas Dave]

Pinging the HDTV list..

HDTV pings!

[corlorde]

There will be very few purchases from me this year for Christmas. I simply cannot afford anything. It’s ok though, I have my family and that’s enough.

[IbJensen]

Who wants a tv when there’s no heart-warming Christmas specials?

The leftists have killed Christmas specials and they have indeed killed television. I hate it. It’s not fit for pigs, Even if they wear lipstick like the current occupant of the White Hut’s wife wears!

“All this for a damned flag?”

I hate these anti-American, anti-Christan and Jew scum of the Chicago sewers!

Get the hell out of the executive mansion and take your #12’a off that antique desk you schmuck!

[SkyDancer]

What’s happened to all the hype about plasma TV and that one with the little girl and “it’s the mirrors”? LCD TV’s seem to be the one that’s come out on top, like Beta vs VHS.

[Snickering Hound]

$249 for a no-name 1080p 32” LCD in the Fry’s ad today.

Christmas will be a price war bloodbath.

[Jonty30]

That’s part of the problem. TV’s are made too well now.

In the past, manufacturers could count on the occasional tube blowing or the occasional shoe breaking the tube.

Also, since HD manufacturers haven’t come up with any worthwhile features that people are willing to lay out some bucks for. 3-D hasn’t proven the draw that many were counting on.

[dynachrome]

“I have my family and that’s enough.”

That makes you a rich man.

[Kolath]

I just bought a nice 50” LCD HDTV which web enabled. I now get Netflix, HULU-plus and various other downloadable programming and apps.

I’ve ditched the satellite dish and the cable (no longer need a land line due to a smartphone). Feels that it’s a brave new frontier.

If the entertainment industry is smart, they’ll see the writing on the wall and offer more internet programming.

[af_vet_rr]

That’s part of the problem. TV’s are made too well now.

In the past, manufacturers could count on the occasional tube blowing or the occasional shoe breaking the tube.

Also, since HD manufacturers haven’t come up with any worthwhile features that people are willing to lay out some bucks for. 3-D hasn’t proven the draw that many were counting on.

We had a 32" CRT before our HDTV that lasted us for I want to say a good 10+ years. Our 20" CRT that was in the bedroom had lasted since 1989. We upgraded 5-6 years ago and have seen nothing since then to cause us to upgrade. It was only recently that we moved to Blu-Ray, but our digital TV service and AppleTV are still not 1080p (and AppleTV probably won't be until the next one). There is literally nothing on the horizon to cause us to upgrade - 3D, no thanks, not as good as I thought it would be. Larger TV? Not without adding on to the living room.

[rlmorel]

My wife and I finally made a big television purchase this summer...got a 55” Samsung (Went for probably the last six or seven years without a real television...had a 12” LCD in the kitchen...:)

I don’t watch any television at all, but I do love watching movies and NFL football, and that is great! Netflix is fine with an occasional rental from the Apple store. We don’t have cable...and that is fine.

I must say...I have watched several 3D movies, and I liked it. People seem really down on it, but the features I watched were fine, didn’t strain my eyes and had nice looking 3D. Two glasses came with the set, and I got a free 3D kit from Amazon with two more.

I love being able to watch movies on something bigger than my computer now...:)

[WKUHilltopper]

Who’d spend all that money for nothing?

[raybbr]

I’ve ditched the satellite dish and the cable (no longer need a land line due to a smartphone).

Where do you get the internet from...?

[TheOldLady]

Click the Pic             Thank you, JoeProBono

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[Nowhere Man]

Who wants a tv when there’s no heart-warming Christmas specials?

The leftists have killed Christmas specials and they have indeed killed television. I hate it. It’s not fit for pigs, Even if they wear lipstick like the current occupant of the White Hut’s wife wears

Yeah, I know, they don't broadcast the Christmas specials like they used to. You'd have to go to ABC Family or other sources on cable to see them. B-(

I hate these anti-American, anti-Christan and Jew scum of the Chicago sewers!

Get the hell out of the executive mansion and take your #12’a off that antique desk you schmuck!

Agreed, we need to get that maladroit, half-Kenyan witchdoctor out of the White Hut.

[Nowhere Man]

Who wants a tv when there’s no heart-warming Christmas specials?

The leftists have killed Christmas specials and they have indeed killed television. I hate it. It’s not fit for pigs, Even if they wear lipstick like the current occupant of the White Hut’s wife wears

Yeah, I know, they don't broadcast the Christmas specials like they used to. You'd have to go to ABC Family or other sources on cable to see them. B-(

I hate these anti-American, anti-Christan and Jew scum of the Chicago sewers!

Get the hell out of the executive mansion and take your #12’a off that antique desk you schmuck!

Agreed, we need to get that maladroit, half-Kenyan witchdoctor out of the White Hut.

[Nowhere Man]

Sorry about the double post.

[Sans-Culotte]

I will watch the prices. I’d like to ditch my 60” DLP and go with a 60” plasma or LCD.

[Vinnie]

What I want is a DAR. Digital Audio Recorder that works similar to the DVR.
A radio receiver with a hard drive and the ability to stop, reverse, record.
Many times I wish I could replay something Rush or Mark Steyn said or save it for my wife to hear.
Haven’t seen one on the market.