While traditional technology acceptance models concentrate on relationships between usefulness and acceptance, they leave unresolved the questions about why a certain technology is found useful, in which contexts, and by whom. This paper presents an empirical study of some of the factors behind perceived usefulness of HDTV in the Netherlands, where the adoption process has just begun. Results show that HDTV awareness, knowledge about HDTV, daily television viewing habits, household innovativeness and the presence of digital television contribute to perceived usefulness of HDTV characteristics. They also demonstrate that these characteristics accord with Dutch viewer demands for future television.