Everything seems more expensive, so why is a big new TV cheaper than ever?

Several factors have contributed to cheaper TVs, some of them manufacturing related and others more about marketing.

In March 1973, electronics manufacturer RCA Corporation touted its “new low-price color TV” in the New York Times. The cost was $379.95 for a 15-inch model ­— the equivalent of a $2,694.32 splurge in current dollars. These days ­— in an era of above-average inflation ­— it can feel like everything from groceries to new cars has gotten more expensive. But one living room staple has managed to defy rising prices and even got less expensive over time: the television. Today, you can snag a 32-inch TV ­— more than double the size of RCA television from 1973 — for under $100. Did television makers lower the prices out of the kindness of their hearts? Hardly. Several factors have contributed to cheaper TVs, some of them manufacturing related and others more about marketing. There’s increased competition, a more efficient production process, plus the proven drawing power of deals. At brick-and-mortar stores like Best Buy and Target, and online retailers like Amazon, some 55-inch TVs are retailing for under $250 — at full price. But perhaps most importantly, there’s a new lucrative revenue stream for TV manufacturers: selling information about you. Today, most TV makers are data-brokers, profiting off the information they collect from their internet-connected customers. The uses of television sets have changed and so have their appearance. What was for decades once a bulky piece of furniture, sometimes inlaid in carved wood, is now a thin, glossy black panel that can be popped in your shopping cart and hung on your wall. Some current models are even designed to look like a picture frame.