Demand for large screen, high definition televisions is spiking in metro Phoenix as the Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl debut draws near.

Buyers who have been considering purchasing a big-screen, high-definition television, are finding extra motivation in Sundays game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

He wasnt alone. Ian Schell, a home theater specialist at the Best Buy appliance store in Ahwatukee, said there has been a marked increase in TV purchases since the Cardinals won a trip to Super Bowl XLIII with a 32-25 win Jan. 18 over the Philadelphia Eagles.

Besides the Super Bowl, TV shoppers also are motivated by the switch from analog to digital TV broadcasts on Feb. 17. The change means some older televisions wont function without a special converter box.

Shoppers are finding equally motivated sellers.

Retailers are pulling out the stops in a last-ditch effort to move out last years televisions before new models arrive in the spring. They are continuing holiday discounts and topping them with incentives to coax sales out of buyers who passed up the deep discounts during the holidays.

Digital television programming suppliers also are offering deals. Direct TV will guarantee installation by the Super Bowl plus throw in a handful of incentives. Cox Communications also pledges to have systems up and running for the Super Bowl.

"For people who didnt take advantage of the low prices during the holidays, this is a great time to buy," said Paul Gagnon, of DisplaySearch, an Austin, Texas-based market research firm that covers the television industry.

DisplaySearch found that the on-line price for liquid crystal display, or LCD, televisions in December was 13 percent lower than a year earlier and that price for plasma display panel, or PDP, televisions fell 16 percent.

Wal-Mart is offering the same deals on some models that it did for "Black Friday," the frenzied day-after-Thanksgiving official start of the holiday shopping season.

"We always make a push for the Super Bowl," said Melissa OBrien,

a spokesman in Wal-Marts appliance section.

Other stores such as Best Buy and Frys are offering home theater installation specials, financing deals and gift certificates for the National Football Leagues online store.

Kris Bowdren from Chandler also was shopping for a new television Saturday because she understood the week before the Super Bowl was the best time of the year to buy a television.

"I was always told thats when the prices are the lowest," he said.

Others believe the very best time is the week after the Super Bowl when people bring back the televisions they bought for the game and realized they couldnt afford.

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Melissa OBrien said such returns are not a big issue but acknowledged there are deals for "out-of-box" televisions after the Super Bowl "if thats what people are looking for." (Source: Display Search)