• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, November 6, 2002

Nielsen Media Research Estimates 106.7 Million TV Households In The U. S.

The total number of television households in the United States (including Alaska and Hawaii) is estimated at 106,700,000, according to Nielsen Media Research. The new universe estimate will take effect with the broadcast week of August 26-September 1, 2002, meaning each national rating point will represent one percent of the total, or 1,067,000 television households.

This figure, which is projected to January 1, 2003, will be used for the entire 2002-2003 television season. The new estimate represents an increase of 1.2 million television households from the 2001-2002 season. The new universe estimates complete the incorporation of data collected in the 2000 U.S. Census. Nielsen Media Research annually reports universe estimates based on information from a variety of sources, including Claritas, the United States Census Bureau and Nielsen Media Research’s samples.

Demographic estimates within U.S. TV households include:

Demographic	2000-2001	2001-2002	2002-2003
Households	102,200,000	105,500,000	106,700,000
Persons 2+	261,780,000	269,880,000	272,040,000
Women 18+	103,780,000	107,070,000	108,190,000
Men 18+	95,490,000	98,560,000	99,020,000
Teens 12-17	22,660,000	23,520,000	24,840,000
Children 2-11	39,850,000	40,730,000	39,990,000

Nielsen Media Research Local Universe Estimates*
*Estimates used throughout the 2002-2003 television season which starts on September 21, 2002

Rank	Designated Market Area (DMA)	TVHouseholds	% of US
1	New York	7,282,320	6.829
2	Los Angeles	5,318,040	4.987
3	Chicago	3,351,330	3.143
4	Philadelphia	2,830,470	2.654
5	San Francisco-Oak-San Jose	2,436,220	2.284
6	Boston (Manchester)	2,353,500	2.207
7	Dallas-Ft. Worth	2,195,540	2.059
8	Washington, DC (Hagrstwn)	2,169,230	2.034
9	Atlanta	1,971,180	1.848
10	Detroit	1,899,910	1.782
11	Houston	1,814,140	1.701
12	Seattle-Tacoma	1,659,100	1.556
13	Tampa-St. Pete (Sarasota)	1,620,110	1.519
14	Minneapolis-St. Paul	1,594,740	1.495
15	Cleveland-Akron (Canton)	1,528,840	1.434
16	Phoenix	1,524,130	1.429
17	Miami-Ft. Lauderdale	1,486,860	1.394
18	Denver	1,366,250	1.281
19	Sacramnto-Stktn-Modesto	1,227,600	1.151
20	Orlando-Daytona Bch-Melbrn	1,224,470	1.148
21	Pittsburgh	1,165,660	1.093
22	St. Louis	1,156,370	1.084
23	Portland, OR	1,061,080	0.995
24	Baltimore	1,060,450	0.994
25	Indianapolis	1,019,870	0.956
26	San Diego	1,004,220	0.942
27	Hartford & New Haven	980,410	0.919
28	Charlotte	962,540	0.903
29	Raleigh-Durham (Fayetvlle)	929,460	0.872
30	Nashville	880,670	0.826
31	Milwaukee	860,350	0.807
32	Cincinnati	854,250	0.801
33	Kansas City	852,510	0.799
34	Columbus, OH	835,780	0.784
35	Greenvll-Spart-Ashevll-And	792,110	0.743
36	Salt Lake City	769,230	0.721
37	San Antonio	718,730	0.674
38	Grand Rapids-Kalmzoo-B.Crk	713,800	0.669
39	West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce	700,850	0.657
40	Birmingham (Ann and Tusc)	690,030	0.647
41	Norfolk-Portsmth-Newpt Nws	677,610	0.635
42	New Orleans	658,830	0.618
43	Memphis	653,840	0.613
44	Buffalo	639,190	0.599
45	Oklahoma City	636,970	0.597
46	Greensboro-H.Point-W.Salem	634,140	0.595
47	Harrisburg-Lncstr-Leb-York	626,660	0.588
48	Providence-New Bedford	624,020	0.585
49	Albuquerque-Santa Fe	620,230	0.582
50	Louisville	612,300	0.574

Nielsen Media Research