• by Wayne Friedman , March 11, 2019

A small but growing number of over-the-air TV homes -- 1.3 million homes -- also have a subscription to live, linear TV networks through a virtual multichannel video programming distributor (vMVPD).

Nielsen says this group represents 8% of all OTA homes, which now stand at 16 million homes as of second-quarter 2018. This has grown from 12 million in second-quarter 2014 and 11 million in second-quarter 2010.

Looking at all OTA homes, Nielsen says 59% have access to other kinds of digital video packages, such as a subscription video-on-demand service. Some 41% of OTA homes don’t have access to a SVOD service.

Southwestern markets -- such as Phoenix and Dallas -- have the most OTA homes with these services. “We see a high concentration of OTA homes in the Southwest region, averaging 19% of households in those areas,” per Nielsen.

In Phoenix, 24.9% of OTA homes have a vMVPD and a least one SVOD. In Dallas, that number is 23.1%. Houston is at 19.9% and Los Angeles comes in at 17.7%.

In addition, Nielsen says, “Hispanics as a group, according to our profile, are 48% more likely to have OTA status than the average U.S home.”