Stagnation in the audience for broadcast television has now been confirmed by a new Nielsen Media Research study.
The Nielsen numbers show that the average US household received 96.4 television channels in 2005. Rising from 92.6 in 2004 that represents an increase of roughly four channels in a year. But the average number of channels the households tuned in to was nearly steady, rising to only 15.4 in 2005 from 15.0 the year before.
As Joe Mandese wrote in MediaDailyNews, "Given an unlimited number of media options, the average person will still opt to use a relatively small number."
At a time when Americans are spending more time watching TV than ever — in 2005 the average US household watched 57 hours and 17 minutes of television a week, versus 56 hours and seven minutes a week in 2004 and 43 hours and 42 minutes a week in 1975 — they are turning away from broadcast channels and spending more time with cable and satellite channels.
For more information on a new venue for broadcast TV look for eMarketer's forthcoming research report Mobile TV: Monetizing the Smallest Screen. It will be published later this month. If you would like to be notified when this report is available, click here.