Nielsen Releases New TV Audience Report

NEW YORK: Nielsen’s latest Television Audience Report reveals that 34 percent of U.S. homes have a DVR, 46 percent are capable of receiving an HD signal, and 55 percent have three or more TV sets.

The report notes that 28 percent of U.S. homes have two sets and just 17 percent have only 1 set; five years ago, 19 percent had 1 set, 32 percent had two sets and 46 percent had three. The average American home now has 2.93 TV sets per household, up from 2.86 sets per home in 2009, the largest year-over-year increase since 2006. In addition, while the total population continues to increase, the number of people per TV home holds steady at 2.5. 

Another key finding is that less than 10 percent of homes receive TV signals over the air. Total ad spending on network TV last year fell 10 percent to $20.3 billion, while spending on cable is up 16 percent to $19.1 billion. Spending on Spanish-language network TV was flat at $2.8 billion.