Many first-time HDTV buyers bypassing the HDTV service

Oh, brother. Not this again. Every year it seems that we get wind of a wonky report that explains just how ignorant many first-time HDTV buyers are to HD programming. And in many cases, we'd argue to no fault of their own. The most recent survey from the offices of Frank N. Magid Associates asserts that "among the 12% of US households who purchased a new high-definition television in the past year, 41% still need to arrange for high-definition programming service from a cable or satellite provider." Granted, some of those folks could be perfectly content with pulling in high-def via an OTA antenna (or hooking up a gaming console / Blu-ray player), but that's still a lot of cats and kittens neglecting that sweet, sweet pay-TV goodness. The survey also found that 43% of new HDTV owners "had not looked into HD services from any provider," and that 41% didn't feel that HD services were worth the cost. We've said it before, and we'll say it again: friends don't let friends own an HDTV without any HD content. It's just not right, people.