There are nearly a billion ultra-high-definition television sets in use worldwide, although there is still a limited supply of programming that is produced in UHD or 4K. About 65% of the 200 million or so televisions shipped in 2023 were 4K models. Around 130 million 4K sets have been shipped over each of the last four years worldwide. There is little choice but to buy a 4K model if you want to buy a big screen television.
The numbers come from Omdia Research to be presented at IBC in Amsterdam. They show that the cumulative shipment of 984 million UHD television sets. 273 million, or over a quarter of them, are in China. That is followed by North America with 241 million and Western Europe with 157 million.
So why then is there a limited supply of 4K programming? If you want to watch an original production on an online service, the chances are it is available in 4K. But it you are looking for 4K broadcast services the choice is more limited, apart from some pay television channels that have committed to the format.
It is hardly surprising that people are watching relatively less broadcast television. Broadcasters seem to be in denial about this, apparently unaware that their programmes do not look so good on increasingly large living room screens.
Of course there is the question of cost. It is more expensive to produce programmes at higher resolution, but they will have greater value in the archive.
The total value of online video now exceeds that for traditional television.
Omdia forecasts total global media and entertainment revenue for 2024 of a trillion dollars, which is up by 7.2%. Of this, online video will take $392 billion, with about 60% in advertising. Traditional television will take $327 billion, with about 40% from advertising. Games will take $220 billion, with the rest from music and cinema, with $44 billion and $36 billion respectively.