Where have all the TV viewers gone?
For the first time in 40 years of Nielsen Media Research surveying, the number of households with TV sets has dropped.
Nielsen’s recently released annual “Television Audience” report reveals that the number of households with TVs is likely to fall from this year’s 115.9 million homes to an estimated 114.7 million homes next year.
That represents just over a 1 percent year-to-year drop, despite the fact that the number of US households in general has continued to grow.
Nielsen also reports that the number of households without any TVs is now at its highest level since 1975, with 3 percent of overall homes being TV-free.
This decrease in homes with TVs can be attributed to three factors, Nielsen suggests:
* Following 2009’s transition from analog to digital broadcasting, some people ditched their TVs instead of buying a converter box or subscribing to cable.
* Due to tough times, it has become too costly to own a TV, particularly for rural or lower-income households.
* More people have turned to the Web, mobile devices, and other video outlets for their TV- viewing needs.
One arena where there will be an increase, however, is in homes with three or more TV sets. Those households are expected to account for 56 percent of homes with TVs.