The number of television channels that the average U.S. home receives reached a record high of 104.2, Nielsen Media Research said Monday.
Those data and other television trends were released in a report from Nielsen that highlights population, television ownership and advertising trends in the United States.
Highlights from this Nielsen study include:
• In 2006, the average U.S. home received 104.2 channels, an increase of almost eight since 2005 and a record level.
• As the number of channels available to a household increases, so does the number of channels tuned. In 2006, the average household tuned to 15.7, or 15.1% of the 104.2 channels available for at least 10 minutes per week.
• General dramas still dominate the broadcast networks’ program lineups, comprising 50% (67 of 134) of primetime programs, an increase of four programs since last year.
• The 30-second commercial is still the television-advertising standard in primetime, accounting for 57% of all commercial units.
The percentage of homes receiving 100-plus channels rose from 42% in 2005 to 47% in 2006, with 33% receiving 60-99 channels, down 4% since 2005. Nielsen found that the average television household in the U.S. receives more than 17 broadcast-TV channels, while 58% of all homes can receive 15 or more and 36% receive 20 or more.
Other relevant TV facts from the Nielsen study included:
• There are an average of 111.4 million TV homes in the United States for the 2006-07 TV season.
• The average U.S. TV home has 2.5 people and 2.8 television sets.
• 28% of U.S. TV homes have digital cable.
• 64% of homes have wired cable hook-ups (down from 68% in 2000) and 23% have satellite or specialized antenna systems to receive television signals.
• 82% of U.S homes have more than one television set at home.
• 84% of U.S. homes have a DVD player.
