Broadcast-Only TV Homes Add Younger Viewers

Broadcast-only TV homes continue to grow -- and are generally younger-skewing.

Over the last five years, broadcast-only TV homes have risen 41% to 15.8 million homes, according to Nielsen-commissioned research by broadcast station group Ion Media.

Data is based on Nielsen’s 2017-2018 TV Universe estimates.

Other research has shown that broadcast-only homes are the result of consumers abandoning traditional pay TV providers. According to Dataxis research, in the first quarter of 2017, there were 100.3 million U.S. pay TV subscribers -- down 1.1% from 101.5 million in the first quarter of 2016.

The Ion Media research also shows the median age of broadcast-only homes is younger than total U.S. TV homes -- 34.5 years old versus 39.6 years old.

Ion says broadcast-only homes have a greater composition of working head of households than total TV homes -- 67% in the labor force. In addition, there is a higher composition of Hispanic, African-American and Asian households -- 42% in broadcast-only homes compared to 30% of total TV homes.

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1 comment about "Broadcast-Only TV Homes Add Younger Viewers".
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  1. Ed Papazian from Media Dynamics Inc, September 12, 2017 at 2:41 p.m.

    Of course they are somewhat younger as many young people can't afford their cable or satellite subscriptions and are very light TV viewers anyway. Broadcast-only homes also tend to be lower in income---hence buying power----than those paying for cable/satellite distribution and there is a churn factor, with people moving into new locales and cancelling their old cable sub, then, after a while, hooking up again or going for one or more "skinny bundles". Meanwhile new homes are constantly entering this category----many of them headed by cash-strapped 18-24s who just got married or are living on their own for the first time. Eventually, many of them will earn enough to subscribe to content sources.

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