HDTV / HD programming gap gets slimmer, still significant

We've always said that friends shouldn't let (real) friends buy HDTVs without HD programming, and it seems that some of you have taken this to heart. Just two years ago, some 40% of HDTV-owning US households had not bothered to subscribe to any form of high-def programming. Today, In-Stat is reporting that said figure has stooped to 18%. Sure, the drop is fairly dramatic, but that still proves that nearly 1 in 5 HDTV-equipped homes probably aren't even enjoying HDTV content. The top two reasons consumers gave for not buying were that they simply "weren't interested" or that HD channels were "too expensive." Funny -- just a few years back, the main excuse was "not enough content," and now that content isn't the issue, we've moved on to complaining over cost. Granted, this doesn't take into account OTA HD viewing, Blu-ray watching or HD streaming, but we'd certainly love to have that information in future studies.