CHART CLOSE-UP FROM THE STORY:
US TV Households Up 1.5% - Asian, Hispanic Households Triple That »
scroll down to read the full story

US TV Households Up 1.5% - Asian, Hispanic Households Triple That

The total number of television households within the US (including Alaska and Hawaii) for the 2008-2009 season will be 114.5 million, an increase of 1.5% from last year, according to estimates from The Nielsen Company.

Nielsen also estimates that the number of persons age 2+ in US TV households will increase 1.3%, to a total of nearly 290 million.

The “National Universe Estimates” show a continued increase of Hispanic and Asian TV households in comparison to total TV households:

Year-over-year growth of Asian (4.4%) and Hispanic (4.3%) TV Households was nearly three times greater than the growth for the total TV household estimate (1.5%). Black or African American TV households increased 2.2% over last year.

Baby Boomers continue to drive the growth of persons 55+ and the universe estimates continue to reflect this change in the United States age structure: Persons 55+ demos are increasing at a rate (2.7%) - double that of the total persons 2+ demo (1.3%).

Local Market Universe Estimates

The 2008-2009 Local Television Household Universe Estimates (pdf) and market ranks reflect a continued trend of growth in the Southern and Western US. Of the 58 markets which moved up in rank, well over half are in the Southeast or Mountain regions.

For the first time in more than 10 years, there were no rank changes in the top 20 markets, though movement in the lower ranks was still evident.

Among the notable increases:

• Austin entered the Top 50 markets, moving from 51 to 49.
• Indianapolis entered the Top 25 markets, increasing from 26 to 25.
• Las Vegas continued steady growth, moving from 43 to 42.
• Palm Springs moved up 2 positions, from 144 to 142.
• Numerous multi-rank increases occurred in the Mountain-region, including Salt Lake City (+2), Reno (+2), Grand Junction-Montrose (+3), Butte-Bozeman (+4) and Spokane (+2).

About the data: National estimates are effective for the 2008-2009 TV season as of September 1, 2008. Nielsen’s Universe Estimates are based on a variety of sources, including Nielsen Claritas (a leading provider of demographic data), the US Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, decennial census results, the American Community Survey, as well as Nielsen’s television samples.