Nielsen Estimates 115.6 Million U.S. TV Homes

NEW YORK: After having recently expanded its definition of what constitutes a TV home to encompass broadband Internet connections, Nielsen’s 2014 Advance National TV Household Universe Estimate (UE) is that there are 115.6 million TV homes in the U.S., up 1.2 percent.

This is up from the estimated 114.2 million from the 2012-13 National UE. The company estimates that 294 million persons over the age of 2 live in these TV homes, an increase of 1.6 percent from last year.

The increase is not only because there has been real changes in population since last year, but also because of updated TV penetration levels, which are now calculated differently from qualifying market break and age/sex demographic categories. Most notable, however, is because of the expansion of Nielsen’s definition of a TV home, which now includes any dwellings that receive TV via broadband connection only.

“This year, the Advance National TV UEs are as we expected,” said Pat McDonough, the senior VP of insights and analysis at Nielsen. “Though we see slight shifts reflecting trends in population changes, the Advance UEs are largely stable and television viewing remains very strong. The expansion of the definition of a TV household, which we announced in February 2013, will include viewing from additional sites in current homes and new homes for the September TV season. In collaboration with clients, we continue to expand the reach of television audience measurement—how and where consumers choose to view content.”