• by Wayne Friedman , April 24, 2020

One and a half months into COVID-19 disruption, Nielsen says the spike in TV usage is starting to level off, although top markets are still posting overall double-digit percentage gains since the start of the COVID-19 crisis.

Total Use of Television (TUT) among persons 2 years and older slipped 2% in the most recent week to 23.4% for April 13 through April 19 from the week before.

For the week ending April 12, TUT was at 23.8%, while TUT was 24.2% for the week ending April 5; and 24.6% for the week ending March 29. That last week in March posted the highest usage since COVID-19 issues began, driving more at-home viewing.

The most recent week showed TUT usage dropping by low single-digit percentage declines among major viewing groups. The steepest drop came among 12-to-17-year olds at 5%; while viewers 55 years and older were flat with the same week before.

Still, for the entire five-week period overall, some 20 markets continue to see major viewing improvements, anywhere from 14% to 20% in total day viewing gains.

The top 10 markets are New York (up 20.4%, to a 29.5 rating among persons 2 plus); Buffalo (19.9%, a 32.0 rating); Baltimore (19.1%, a 30.6 rating); Denver (19%, a 27.7 rating); Boston (17.4%, 27.9 rating); Philadelphia (17.2, a 31.2 rating); Washington, D.C.(16.7%, a 26.4 rating); Detroit, (16.4%, a 31.8 rating), Tampa-St.Pete (16.3%, a 29.4 rating); and Albuquerque-Santa Fe (16.1%, a 31.1 rating).