There are 36 million HDTV sets in the U.S. The forecast is that an additional 16 million HDTV sets will be sold in 2007. However, Internet viewing of HD is at about 3 percent of HDTV owners, according to a Consumer Electronics Association report released Tuesday.

There are about 120 million households in the U.S. The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) estimates that about 30 percent of those households have an HDTV. About a third of those have more than one HDTV. Moreover, in 2007, an additional 16 million HDTVs will be purchased

According to the report, "HDTV: You Have the Set, But Do You Have the Content?" consumers are geting the vast majority of their HD content from Cable (66%), Satellite (27%), and via antenna (8%). Only 3% obtain HD programming via the Internet. (The numbers add to more than 100% because some households have more than one HD source.)

One finding of note was, "This profile mirrors the U.S. television reception profile, indicating that HD content is not resulting in a migration to or from any one television-programming provider," the CEA reported.

The CEA study was administered via telephone interview to a random national sample of 2,508 U.S adults between April 10 and 24, 2007.

These numbers reflect the fact that customers have, so far, been obtaining HD content in the traditional ways, and, of course, cable and satellite companies hope to keep it that way. In order for Apple’s Apple TV venture to become more than a "hobby," [according to Steve Jobs] something will have to happen to skew these numbers, and few companies with vested HD interests seem to be in the mood right now to help Apple get there.