More than three quarters of American television households can now receive HDTV programming from their local cable operator, new statistics show.

The National Cable & Telecommunications Association reports that 84m out of 108m US TV households are passed by an HDTV-carrying cable system, a 125% jump since January 2003.

The NCTA's president and CEO, Robert Sachs, said: "The full-scale deployment of HD service and programming has been the most rapid rollout of any product launched by the cable industry. Cable companies are now offering packages that include a full mix of broadcast, basic and premium networks featuring HD content."