Wider still and wider - our love of the giant TV screen

In a year of High Street gloom one item beamed bright from the sales figures - the giant TV screen. It may still be a tiny segment of the market but sales are rocketing. Dixons Carphone saw a 70% surge in the sale of screens over 65in over Christmas, and a tripling of sales of screens sized 75in or more. John Lewis said sales of 70in TVs have risen 150% compared with last year, partly thanks to a spike in sales from the World Cup. According to the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (Barb) sales of screens over 40in have been on the increase since at least the beginning of the decade.