Fewer homes with TVs getting service in usual ways: Nielsen company

AP

(AP) NEW YORK — The number of U.S. homes that don't get traditional television service continues to increase, but that doesn't mean they don't have TVs.

The Nielsen company said in a report issued on Tuesday that three-quarters of the estimated 5 million homes that don't get TV signals over the airways or through cable, satellite or telecommunications companies have televisions anyway.

Many of these homes are satisfied to use their TVs for games or get programming through DVDs or services like Netflix or Apple TV, said Dounia Turrill, senior vice president for client insights at Nielsen.

The company's report shows how the nature of TV service is slowly changing. Before the percentage started declining about three years ago, more than 99 percent of TV homes received the traditional TV signals. Now that has dipped just below 96 percent.

Part of the decline is also economic — service deemed expendable by people struggling to make ends meet, Nielsen said.

Because of the changes, Nielsen is considering redefining what it considers a television household to include people who get service through Netflix or similar services instead of the traditional TV signals, Turrill said.

During the first three months of 2012, the average consumer spent about 2 percent less time watching traditional TV than the previous year, Nielsen said. They more than made up for that by spending more time watching material recorded on DVRs or on the Internet through TVs, computers and mobile devices.

The typical consumer spends 14 minutes a day using gaming consoles, although it's more for owners of Wii, XBox and PlayStation 3, Nielsen said. Many of these devices are also popular sites for accessing video, Turrill said.

"The gaming devices are becoming entertainment hubs," she said.

People over age 65 spend nearly 48 hours, on average, watching television each week, Nielsen said. At the other end of the spectrum are teenagers aged 12 to 17, who spend an average of 22 minutes per week watching TV.

Blacks spend an average of 210 hours per month watching TV, more than whites (nearly 153 hours), Latinos (131 hours) and Asians (100 hours), Nielsen said.

[displeased2]

Cancel your cable and get rid of your tv. It's a waste of time and money. Instead of watching tv or playing video games, pursue real-life, physical experiences. You will be much more satisfied with your accomplishments.

[set-b]

Got rid of DISH three months ago and don't miss it ... thanks to HULU+, Netflix, and an antenna. We're saving about $60 per month.

[makemyday2day]

Me, too. Haven't 'paid' for TV in years - or owned a TV. Watch it all on my monitor for FREE - when I want to. I was house sitting for a friend last year who had cable and I was so excited to watch some shows I can't get with my 'free' subscription. But the mass amount of ads was incredible!!! SO thankful to not have to pay for the LONG commercial breaks!

[Bojax39]

I was paying for a TV package, yet watching only 3 network shows a week. So I fired Dish Network and save $70 a month. Encouraged by the savings, I fired the phone company and ported my wired number to Google Voice which is free (for now). I use a cell for emergency calls (NET 10, $15 a month). $65 monthly phone bill, gone.

I pay $40 a month for high speed internet anyway, so making it double as TV source and phone system seemed like a thrifty idea.
The $15 for the cell is an ongoing expense too. By ending CenturyLink and Dish and adding $8 a month for Netflix, I save $127 a month which adds up to $1,524 a year.

I'll NEVER go back to traditional phone or TV if I can help it.

[mors_libertatis]

Karek40 understands: "Reality" TV, propaganda/social engineering news, excessive advertizing, can't even watch 5 minutes of a movie without a dang commercial. Yes, life has been great since I told the cable company to take a hike. Do you hear that cable companies? NEVER AGAIN!!

[john92021]

Had only internet for at least 3 years, I can't stand all the commercials and definitely don't want to pay to watch them. I can get a few over the antenna channels but half of the shows are commercials and sometimes the signal breaks up right at the end of the show as if timed that way. I think cable TV is going the way of Blockbuster.

[lillyhorton]

A lot of families have cable for the sports stations.

[Bojax39]

Yeah, I reckon if you really need to watch people get payed millions for playing kids games on TV, cable would be the way to go. :-)

[Grizzlyironbear]

It's soooo simple! You as a cable company, allow the user to pick their channels that they want and just pay for those. For example, on top of the local channels, you have the option to choose only the channels that you know your family is going to watch, and skip the rest from even being sent to your house. alter the guide to only show you the channels you get, so you don't have to see hundreds of channels lineups, and VIOLA! You have the perfect channel lineup for each person.

[sjc_1]

The lobbyists for the cable industry made sure you would not get that. There was a bill in Congress to allow people to pick the channels they wanted to pay for, it never made it.

[Bojax39]

MANY customers have been asking the cable companies for a la carte channel choosing for years. And with individual set box programming it is more than possible.

But since cable companies themselves are forced to buy channel packages from their programming providers they pass that along to subscribers.

So you get those nifty shopping channels, foreign language shows, digital audio streams and special interest junk shoved down your throat no matter if you want them or not, and at your expense.

Isn't it GREAT? :-)

[karek40]

For me it was social content, the three major networks ABC, CBS,& MSNBC program content ceased to be for entertainment or factual reporting of the news, but their program content was a direct attempt to change the social mores of the country (they continue to this day but there are other options now).

[foo8259]

Not missing much. Every time I turn on the TV cold it's on some commercial. I particularly dislike the "talk to your doctor" ones on the nightly news. As soon as those start the set goes OFF. Another problem I see with DTV, other than its eratic performance -- you can't record one channel while watching another on the VCR anymore.

[you_MAY_be_right]

You still have a VCR?

[rharrin1]

Maybe it is the choice of programing the cable offers. We only use one out of four or five but have to pay for all of them.