Video game console penetration increased to 45.7 million homes in the fourth quarter of 2006, representing 41.1% of all TV households, according to Nielsen Media Research.
In any given minute of the day, about 1.6 million people in the US are using video game consoles.
By the close of 2006, approximately 148.4 million people had access to at least one video game console system in their homes. That is more than half (52.4%) of the total US television population. Console penetration is up 19% since 2004. Total television household penetration rose 2% during the same period.
More than 4.4 million of these consoles are now connected to the Internet, and that figure does not even include the PS3 or Wii.
Two-thirds of all men in television households between the ages of 18 and 34 — and four-fifths of 12-to-17-year-old males — have access to video game consoles in their homes.
"The video game console has become a major player in the battle for the living room," said Jeff Herrmann of Nielsen. "In households across the country, consoles are successfully competing for consumers' time and attention; not simply as gaming platforms, but as multimedia hubs that also can deliver high quality digital movies and IPTV."