TV ownership falls for the first time in 20 years, Nielsen says

[onehandle]

Source: MSNBC/Reuters

NEW YORK — The number of households in the United States that own television sets is estimated to have declined for the first time in 20 years, according to forecast figures from the Nielsen Co that were released on Tuesday.

The switch from analog to digital broadcast in 2009, the economic downturn and the trend among consumers to watch TV programs across other platforms, including computers and tablet devices, were given as reasons for the shift. Still, it was estimated that in 2012, some 96.7 percent of U.S. households will own televisions, down from 98.9 percent in 2011.

Nielsen, a division of Nielsen Holdings, based their preliminary estimates on the 2010 U.S. census data, which showed an increase in the number of households and trends of TV ownership of the past several years. Adjusted estimates will be provided in August 2011.

Nielsen, which keeps tabs on TV ratings and often determines the fate of programming, also said that a number of younger urban consumers are going without paid TV subscriptions, often referred to as "cord cutting."

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42879850/ns/business-us_business

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Between pirate feeds of live TV, Netflix, and Hulu+ our television is collecting dust. We keep a spare MacBook Pro on our dinner table just for mealtime entertainment.

[Drale]

1. One of the problems is the Nelson ratings don't include

people who record the shows with a DVR and watch them later. Thats what killed Stargate Universe. Well that and they moved it to Monday night, a night when people don't have time to watch TV and have to record what they want to watch.

[Autumn Colors]

6. Yes they do.

We were a "Nielsen family" within the past year and we had to not only mark down what we watched live, but what we recorded to watch later.

[pstokely]

31. But how many people are honest with that

Some people probably write down they watch Faux News at times they're never home

[jmowreader]

34. Does Nielsen still have the set-top boxes?

I know many years ago most of the Nielsen ratings data came from set-top boxes they paid people to install in their homes. The box recorded when the set was turned on and off, and the channel it was tuned to, and reported this information over a telephone line on a daily basis.

Did those boxes make the transition to digital?

[LanternWaste]

2. e do have our priorities...

"21% to 23% of adult Americans were not "able to locate information in text", could not "make low-level inferences using printed materials", and were unable to "integrate easily identifiable pieces of information..."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_in_the_United_States)

But at least 97% of us own televisions. We do have our priorities. :P

I'm not really in a position to cast asparagus though, as I use my television a lot; but most of that is watching a movie via my DVD player (don't know if that counts or not)... network or cable TV gets about five hours a week of my time.

[AndyTiedye]

3. Some Communities Got Left Out in the Transition to Digital

Places that got snowy analog get nothing on digital TV.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

8. IIRC, you were bringing that up

in threads discussing the transition from NTSC to digital TV. I get kind of ticked (putting it mildly) when the picture blows out into pixels, so I Feel Your Pain. Overall, I like the transition. Local station MHz brings in NHK, Al Jazeera, and RT. By coincidence, I bought two CECBs, new in the box, at a yard sale on Saturday. Some stores have stopped selling those, as everyone who needed one has bought one already.

Where are you located? I'm in northern VA, and I can get channel 2 in Baltimore on my TV (analog, CRT, with a CECB and rabbit ears). The station that came in best in analog is now one of the hardest to get. Go figure.

[AndyTiedye]

16. I Was Able to Get Reception Eventually

...by buying the best antenna and amplifier on the market. I live 1/2 hour from San Francisco.

My neighbors down the hill a little ways are not so lucky.

[CottonBear]

9. I live an urban area and I get nothing on digital TV. I used to get lots of channels before. n/t

[AlbertCat]

4. We keep a spare MacBook Pro on our dinner table just for mealtime entertainment.

You watch TV during dinner? At the table?

Jesus! Cut the stupid thing off and have a conversation!



Yes yes... I watch the tube sometimes when eating alone, but never "at the table" . Old school, I guess.


Television.... a vast wasteland.

[onehandle]

7. My wife and don't engage in 'television' time where we just sit there like lumps.

Except when we watch a movie now and then.

We talk on and off all day long. During dinner we watch the previous night's Daily Show and Colbert for the most part.

[RebelOne]

15. I watch TV at the table.

I am single and my table is the coffee table in front of my TV. I have a dining set, but it is only used for company.

[No Elephants]

5. Wonder if it has anything to do with unbelievably lousy TV programming?

One mindless, fake, poorly-acted "reality" show after another. Ugh.

[onehandle]

10. Between reality shows and commercials aimed at elderly shut-ins...

...live TV is for the most part, is unbearable.

[wickerwoman]

24. I think TV has gotten a lot better. The 00s were one of the great decades for TV.

The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Weeds, Dexter and Rome are some of the best TV shows ever produced.

On network TV, I'd put Arrested Development, 30 Rock, Breaking Bad, Lost, House, Battlestar Galactica and Mad Men up against any of the classic shows of all time.

I've actually noticed movies getting a lot worse as many of the best writers and actors are migrating to TV. It doesn't have the stigma it used to.

My main beef is that shows get cancelled too quickly. It's very, very rare for a show to get past two or three seasons now, even when its award winning and innovative. People just wait for the DVDs to come out instead of dealing with things episodically. And when they cancel something they just drop it without making any real effort to tie up the story... just vague promises of a movie at some later date.

I hate waiting a week for the next episode, so I guess I'm part of the problem though. :-)

[StarsInHerHair]

28. Pushing Daisies, yes too good to be cancelled

too few shows though, MOST you list is on hbo

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. Tv access price too high for the content, which is why we cut the cord.

Don't miss it a bit.

[joeglow3]

18. YEAH. It has been about a year since I got to bust this out

"Area Man Constantly Mentioning He Doesn't Own A Television"

http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-constantly-mentioning-he-doesnt-own-a-tel,429/

[Tikki]

12. We lost two TV's (out of four) over the years to attrition..

we never replaced them. I'd like to get rid of TV cable, too just keep the internet feed.


Tikki

[JayceR]

13. No Shit, Television is Dead

MSNBC, CNN, Weather, and CSPAN are pretty much the only watchable things to me.

Fox 25 (Local) plays three different versions of the same damn show. (Family Guy, American Dad, and the Cleveland)

FOX News is funnier to watch than Comedy Central.

MTV, VH1, MTV2, and Nickelodeon are corporate abominations responsible for Jersey shore and trite rubbish pop like "Friday" reaching mainstream success, they're clearly puppets of Viacom, plotting to make us all buy pricey hearing implants before the age of 30.

History might as well be called the Hitler channel with all the WWII conspiracy theories.

Disney needs no explanation whatsoever.

ESPN and ESPN2, aside from encouraging people to throw their money into the casino's pocket, provide a haven for the Sports-Crazy husbands of soccer moms to act like the complete opposite of the athletes they freakishly know every statistic about while their family withers away.

Spike TV, targeting machismo douchebags, in reality attracts an audience of insecure men to waste their lives watching hours of back-to-back "Auction Hunters".

ABC Family, an outlet for extreme wingnuttery like Pat Robertson and the late Jerry Falwell as well as Nicholas Sparks movies and dull, Parent-Approved teenage girl dramas like "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" and "Pretty Little Liars". At least Twilight got 'em reading... although seeing the crazed fanclub of the Bible, it's not saying much.

That's all the channels I could think of.

[freshwest]

20. Agree with all of that. I dumped cable years ago.

[StarsInHerHair]

29. TCM, & AMC

nt

[izquierdista]

14. I bought a TV last year

Cost me $5 at the Salvation Army store!

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

17. its a rare week that the tv gets turned on more

than once in this household.

I do watch MSNBC via streaming internet.

[joeglow3]

19. "Area Man Constantly Mentioning He Doesn't Own A Television"

http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-constantly-me...

[fujiyama]

21. I haven't owned a TV in years

I've had to remain mobile for work, living in different cities throughout the US, and owning large items like TVs just seemed like a hassle to transport.

I've considered buying a TV to watch movies and netflix with though, with perhaps some occasional video gaming...but it's not really a high priority. I can watch DVDs and stream netflix and hulu just as easily through my laptop...though sometimes I think it might be nice to have a larger screen.

[Downwinder]

22. I just use the TV as a large screen monitor for DU.

[wickerwoman]

23. I just realized yesterday I haven't had my TV plugged in for four months.

I was on the phone with family and they told me to turn on the TV for the news about bin Laden. I realized I'd unplugged it in January to save electricity and never even noticed it had been off all that time. I went to DU for the OBL news and I watch everything else on my computer.

[Alexander]

25. Star Trek predicted the TV would fall out of use by 2040.

Any TV show I want to watch, I can easily find on the Internet.

Most live coverage is streaming on the Internet as well.

I have a TV that I only use to watch DVDs. Other than that, I don't touch it.

The 2040 prediction may definitely come true.

[Zorra]

26. I'm the slime

I am gross and perverted
Im obsessed n deranged
I have existed for years
But very little had changed
I am the tool of the government
And industry too
For I am destined to rule
And regulate you

I may be vile and pernicious
But you can't look away
I make you think Im delicious
With the stuff that I say
I am the best you can get
Have you guessed me yet?
I am the slime oozin out
From your tv set

You will obey me while I lead you
And eat the garbage that I feed you
Until the day that we don't need you
Don't got for help...no one will heed you
Your mind is totally controlled
It has been stuffed into my mold
And you will do as you are told
Until the rights to you are sold

Well, I am the slime from your video
Oozin along on your livin room floor
I am the slime from your video
Cant stop the slime, people, lookit me go

Words/Music Frank Zappa

[David__77]

27. We use our laptops a lot.

Usually we hook them to the TV, but oftentimes not. It slightly saddens me that I used to not watch TV, and now do so much...

[pstokely]

30. Does a USB HDTV tuner and laptop count as TV?

Or a DVR hooked up to a computer monitor?

[FreeStateDemocrat]

32. There are two reasons for the decline, according to Nielsen. One is poverty: some low-income househo

There are two reasons for the decline, according to Nielsen. One is poverty: some low-income households no longer own TV sets, most likely because they cannot afford new digital sets and antennas.

This is the whole story not a bull shit truncated/edited version:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42879850/ns/business-us_business

[KurtNYC]

33. they leave out marketplace competition from alternate media

-- all of which is part of a long computer-based trend: video/computer games, Hulu, YouTube, FB, etc.

Television is dead. The bad news is NOW they will pour more effort and money into using the internet for propaganda and crass marketing.

[sarcasmo]

35. The Internet killed the TV star.