TV Still Rules

Despite all the growing options to watch video on a range of other devices, TV maintains it place as the most popular and widespread consumer media device in the U.S. The fact is, we Americans love our TV. In fact, there are four or more televisions,  yes four or more, in nearly 35.9 million homes – that’s one in three U.S. households, according to a new report by Nielsen (the same folks who measure what we watch on TV).

Moreover, there are some 290 million Americans and 114.7 households where at least one TV set is owned. That compares to 211 million American (ages 13 and up) using the Internet and 116 million accessing the mobile Web. TV still rules.

The amount of time Americans spend watching TV continues to far outdistance alternatives. While the average American spends some 2 hours 21 minutes per week watching time-shifted TV (using a DVR as an example) and close to four hours on the Internet via computer, he or she spends over 32 hours watching TV in the traditional way.

Look below at some of the other trends that Nielsen reports on and see if you fit in one or more of these categories:

• 80.9% of US households have cable TV and broadband access; 4.9% have broadcast-only TV and broadband access
• Nearly 97% of US households have more than one TV – 32.7% have two, 28.3% have three and 35.9% have four or more
• 95 million Americans have satellite connections (includes TV and Internet connections), 129 million have DVRs, 145 million have digital cable, 162 million have video game consoles and 253 million have DVD players
• 288 million Americans, ages 2 and up, watch TV in the traditional way, 143 million watch TV via the Internet, 111 million watch time-shifted TV and 30 million watch TV via mobile phones