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U.S. media usage - time spent watching television 2014-2021
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U.S. media usage - time spent watching television 2014-2021
Daily time spent watching TV per capita in the United States from 2014 to 2021 (in hours.minutes)
by Amy Watson,
last edited
Sep 11, 2019
Estimates suggest that in 2019 U.S. adults will spend an average of three hours and 35 minutes watching TV each day. This figure has continually fallen since 2014 and the downward trend is forecasted to continue in the years to come, with daily averages falling from around four hours and 20 minutes in 2014 to three hours and 20 minutes in 2021.
Screen Time
Although average daily time spent watching TV appears to be decreasing, this doesn’t necessarily mean that people are spending less time in front of screens; this drop is likely due to an increasing amount of time spent with phones, tablets, and laptops. With on-demand streaming services such as Netflix gaining massive popularity, people can watch a huge range of programming whilst on the go, meaning that screen time is no longer limited to time spent at home in front of the TV. Young people around the world have been especially quick to adopt smartphone-based video streaming habits meaning that television screen time will likely fall even further in the future.Television in the U.S.
As mentioned above, the way people are consuming their video entertainment content is rapidly changing in the United States. By 2021, estimates suggest that less than half of U.S. households will continue to pay for traditional TV services. In order to compete for people’s business, cable and satellite providers must find a way to adapt in a way the meets the needs of today’s increasingly mobile consumers. Some are launching their own streaming services in a bid to tackle cord-cutting, most notably Comcast and AT&T.Daily time spent watching TV per capita in the United States from 2014 to 2021 (in hours.minutes)
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by Amy Watson,
last edited
Sep 11, 2019
Estimates suggest that in 2019 U.S. adults will spend an average of three hours and 35 minutes watching TV each day. This figure has continually fallen since 2014 and the downward trend is forecasted to continue in the years to come, with daily averages falling from around four hours and 20 minutes in 2014 to three hours and 20 minutes in 2021.
Screen Time
Although average daily time spent watching TV appears to be decreasing, this doesn’t necessarily mean that people are spending less time in front of screens; this drop is likely due to an increasing amount of time spent with phones, tablets, and laptops. With on-demand streaming services such as Netflix gaining massive popularity, people can watch a huge range of programming whilst on the go, meaning that screen time is no longer limited to time spent at home in front of the TV. Young people around the world have been especially quick to adopt smartphone-based video streaming habits meaning that television screen time will likely fall even further in the future.Television in the U.S.
As mentioned above, the way people are consuming their video entertainment content is rapidly changing in the United States. By 2021, estimates suggest that less than half of U.S. households will continue to pay for traditional TV services. In order to compete for people’s business, cable and satellite providers must find a way to adapt in a way the meets the needs of today’s increasingly mobile consumers. Some are launching their own streaming services in a bid to tackle cord-cutting, most notably Comcast and AT&T.- Show sources information
- Show publisher information
- Release date
- June 2019
- Region
- United States
- Survey time period
- April 2019
- Age group
- 18 years and older
- Special properties
- excludes digital, includes all time spent with TV, regardless of multitasking
- Supplementary notes
-
* Forecast.
The data is presented in hours and minutes, i.e. 4.2 shows 4 hours and 20 minutes, 4.05 shows 4 hours and 5 minutes.
Source
- Show sources information
- Show publisher information
- Release date
- June 2019
More information
- Region
- United States
- Survey time period
- April 2019
- Age group
- 18 years and older
- Special properties
- excludes digital, includes all time spent with TV, regardless of multitasking
- Supplementary notes
-
* Forecast.
The data is presented in hours and minutes, i.e. 4.2 shows 4 hours and 20 minutes, 4.05 shows 4 hours and 5 minutes.
Other statistics on the topic
Television in the U.S.
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Statistics on "Television in the U.S."
- Industry financials
The most important statistics
- Compound annual growth rate of the media and entertainment spending in the United States between 2016 and 2021, by sectorGrowth of the media and entertainment spending in the U.S. 2016-2021, by sector
- Estimated revenue of TV broadcasters in the United States from 2005 to 2017 (in million U.S. dollars)Revenue of U.S. TV broadcasters 2005-2017
- Revenue of TV broadcasters in the United States from 2010 to 2017, by source (in billion U.S. dollars)Revenue of U.S. TV broadcasters 2010-2017, by source
- Estimated expenses of U.S. TV broadcasters from 2007 to 2017 (in billion U.S. dollars)Expenses of U.S. television broadcasters 2007-2017
- Local television station revenue in the United States from 2016 to 2020 (in billion U.S. dollars)Local TV station revenues in the U.S. 2016-2020
- Television subscription revenue in the United States from 2011 to 2020 (in billion U.S. dollars)TV subscription revenue in the U.S. 2011-2020
- Value of mergers and acquisitions of local TV stations in the United States from 1996 to 2017 (in billion U.S dollars)Local TV: M&A value in the U.S. 1996-2017
- Revenue of television stations in the United States in 2016, by owner typeRevenue of the TV stations in the U.S. 2016, by owner
- Market data
The most important statistics
- Number of commercial TV stations in the United States from 1950 to 2017Number of commercial TV stations in the U.S. 1950-2017
- Number of TV households in the United States from season 2000-2001 to season 2018-2019 (in millions)Number of TV households in the U.S. 2000-2019
- Number of TV households in North America from 2010 to 2021, by platform (in millions)Number of TV households in North America 2010-2021, by platform
- Number of TV households in the largest local TV markets in the United States in the broadcast season 2018-2019TV households in the largest local TV markets in the U.S. 2019
- Weekly TV reach in the United States as of the 1st quarter of 2019, by age groupTV reach in the U.S. Q1 2019, by age
- TV reach in the United States in 2017 and 2018, by time periodTV reach in the U.S. 2017-2018, by time period
- Reach of TV shows/episodes on a typical weekday in the United States as of January 2018, by daypartTV shows/episodes reach on weekdays in the U.S. 2018, by daypart
- Internet-connected TV penetration rate in the United States from 2014 to 2017Connected TV penetration rate in the U.S. 2017
- Employment data
The most important statistics
- Total employment in U.S. broadcasting industries from 2001 to 2019 (in 1,000s)Employment in U.S. broadcasting industries 2001-2019
- Unemployment rate in the U.S. broadcasting* industry from 2001 to 2018Unemployment rate in the U.S. broadcasting industry 2001-2018
- Average hourly earnings of all employees in U.S. broadcasting industries from 2007 to 2018 (in U.S. dollars)Average hourly earnings in U.S. broadcasting industries 2007-2018
- Market leaders
The most important statistics
- Leading cable networks in the United States in 2017, by number of primetime viewers (in millions)Leading cable networks in the U.S. 2017
- Leading cable networks in the United States in August 2019, by number of primetime viewers (in millions)Cable networks: number of primetime viewers in the U.S. August 2019
- Leading cable networks in the United States in August 2019, by number of total day viewers (in thousands)Cable networks: number of viewers in the U.S. August 2019
- Leading ad supported broadcast and cable networks in the United States in 2018, by average number of viewersMost watched TV networks in the U.S. 2018
- Leading cable news networks in the United States in August 2019, by number of primetime viewers (in 1,000s)U.S. cable news networks: number of viewers August 2019
- Leading new network TV series in the United States in the 2016-17 season, by number of viewers (in millions)Most watched new network TV series in the U.S. 2016
- Level of trust in TV networks in the United States in 2017, by genreTrust in TV networks U.S. 2017
- Combined evening news audiences on U.S. television networks from 2016 to 2018 (in millions)Evening news audiences on U.S. television networks 2016-2018
- Consumer behavior
The most important statistics
- Weekly TV reach in the United States as of the 1st quarter of 2019, by age groupTV reach in the U.S. Q1 2019, by age
- Change in TV content viewing habits among pay TV subscribers in the United States in 2017, by deviceChange in pay TV content viewing habits in the U.S. 2017, by device
- How do you most often decide to watch a new TV series?Leading sources of discovering new TV shows among Millennials in the U.S. 2017
- Distribution of binge viewers in the United States in the United States in 2017, by ageBinge viewing habits in the United States in 2017, by age
- Share of binge-watchers in the United States as of April 2018, by genderBinge-watchers in the U.S. 2018, by gender
- Most common reasons for binge-watching TV series in the United States as of April 2018Binge-viewing reasons in the U.S. 2018
- Would you prefer the ability to make your own pay TV package by selecting only the channels you want to watch?Interest in tailored pay-TV packages in North America 2017
- TV consumption methods of Millennials in the United States as of April 2017Ways in which Millennials watch TV in the U.S. as of 2017
- Time spent
The most important statistics
- Daily time spent watching TV per capita in the United States from 2014 to 2021 (in hours.minutes)U.S. media usage - time spent watching television 2014-2021
- Daily time spent watching live TV in the United States in November 2017, by city (in hours)Time spent watching live TV in the U.S. November 2017, by city
- Average daily time spent watching TV per capita in the United States in 2018, by gender (in hours)U.S. TV consumption: average viewing time in 2018, by gender
- Average daily time spent watching TV per capita in the United States in 2018, by age group (in hours)U.S. TV consumption: daily viewing time in 2018, by age
- Weekly time spent with TV among young adults in the United States from 1st quarter 2011 to 2nd quarter 2017 (in minutes)Time spent with TV among young adults in the U.S. 2011-2017
- Weekly time 12- to 17-year-olds spend watching TV in the United States in 1st quarter 2018, by source (in minutes)Time U.S. teens spent with TV 2018
- Weekly time spent watching TV among Baby Boomers in the United States in 1st quarter 2018, by platform (in minutes)Baby Boomers: weekly time spent watching TV Q1 2018
- Content
The most important statistics
- Number of original scripted TV series in the United States from 2009 to 2018Number of scripted TV series in the U.S. 2009-2018
- Are you satisfied with the amount of shows and movies available on cable/satellite television?Satisfaction among U.S. consumers with amount of shows/movies available on TV 2017
- Leading syndicated TV programs in the United States from August 2017 to August 2018Leading syndicated programs on U.S. TV 2018
- Leading single telecast TV programs in the United States in 2018, based on total viewers (in millions)Top 10 single telecast TV programs in the U.S. 2018
- Leading favorite contemporary TV shows according to Millennials in the United States as of April 2018, by rating scoreContemporary TV shows with the highest ratings among Millennials in the U.S. 2018
- Leading TV series in the United States as of January 2019, by production costs per episode (in million U.S. dollars)Most expensive TV shows produced as of 2019
- Share of consumers who have used selected offline news sources to access news in the last week in the United States as of February 2019Leading sources for consuming offline news in the U.S. 2019
- Leading cable news networks in the United States in 2017, by number of primetime viewers (in thousands)U.S. cable news: number of primetime viewers in 2017
- Advertising
The most important statistics
- Local TV advertising spending in the United States from 2010 to 2021 (in billion U.S. dollars)Local TV ad spend in the U.S. 2010-2021
- Leading advertisers on cable TV networks in the United States in 2017, by ad spend (in million U.S. dollars)Largest advertisers on cable TV networks in the U.S. 2017
- Share of online TV in TV advertising revenue in the United States from 2012 to 2018Share of online TV in TV advertising revenue in the U.S. 2012-2018
- Long-form direct response TV (DRTV) advertising spending in the United States from 4th quarter 2011 to 4th quarter 2017 (in million U.S. dollars)Long-form DRTV ad spend in the U.S. 2005-2017
- Short-form direct response TV (DRTV) advertising spending in the United States from 4th quarter 2010 to 4th quarter 2017 (in million U.S. dollars)Short-form DRTV quarterly spend in the U.S. 2010-2017
- Leading movie commercials in the United States in week ending August 18, 2019, by television advertising spending (in million U.S. dollars)Leading trailers in the U.S. July 2019, by weekly TV ad spend
- Leading TV shows on broadcast TV in the United States during the 2018/19 TV season, by cost of a 30-second spot (in U.S. dollars)Priciest shows for advertisers on broadcast TV in the U.S. 2018/19
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Statistics
- Distribution of TV viewers in the U.S. 2013, by income
- Distribution of adult TV viewers in the U.S. 2013, by ethnicity
- Distribution of TV viewers in the U.S. 2013, by gender
- Distribution of TV viewers in the U.S 2013, by age
- Distribution of TV viewers of shows with a black cast in the U.S. 2017, by ethnicity
- Devices used for watching live tv broadcasts in Finland 2014, 2016
- Commercial TV reach in Finland 2017
- Average television consumption per weekday in Germany 2015-2019
- Daily time spent on watching television in APAC 2011-2021
- TV viewing time of children in Germany 2010-2018, by age group
- Amount of television watched on shared house TV in the UK 2013, by parent demographic
- Television watched by children on their own in the UK 2013, by parent demographic
- Time spent watching TV out of the home in the United Kingdom (UK) 2013 (total)
- Average daily television consumption in the Netherlands 2010-2017
- Average daily TV consumption in Western Europe 2011-2021
- Average daily television consumption in Portugal 2010-2018
- Gender representation on television in France 2012-2015
- Individuals who believed that the is not enough diversity on TV in the UK in 2017
- TV show binge watching sources in the U.S. 2015
- Average ownership rate households color TVs Japan 2018, by age group
Studies
- Television consumption in France
- Television in Sweden
- Public service television in Scandinavia
- Public service television in Sweden
- Television industry in the Netherlands
- Television in the U.S.
- Television in Canada
- Television industry in Italy
- Television industry in Belgium
- Television industry in the United Kingdom (UK)
- Television in Germany
- Television industry in India
- Television industry worldwide
- Television industry in Europe
- Satellite television in the United Kingdom (UK)
Statistics on "Television in the U.S."
- Compound annual growth rate of the media and entertainment spending in the United States between 2016 and 2021, by sector
- Estimated revenue of TV broadcasters in the United States from 2005 to 2017 (in million U.S. dollars)
- Revenue of TV broadcasters in the United States from 2010 to 2017, by source (in billion U.S. dollars)
- Estimated expenses of U.S. TV broadcasters from 2007 to 2017 (in billion U.S. dollars)
- Local television station revenue in the United States from 2016 to 2020 (in billion U.S. dollars)
- Television subscription revenue in the United States from 2011 to 2020 (in billion U.S. dollars)
- Value of mergers and acquisitions of local TV stations in the United States from 1996 to 2017 (in billion U.S dollars)
- Revenue of television stations in the United States in 2016, by owner type
- Number of commercial TV stations in the United States from 1950 to 2017
- Number of TV households in the United States from season 2000-2001 to season 2018-2019 (in millions)
- Number of TV households in North America from 2010 to 2021, by platform (in millions)
- Number of TV households in the largest local TV markets in the United States in the broadcast season 2018-2019
- Weekly TV reach in the United States as of the 1st quarter of 2019, by age group
- TV reach in the United States in 2017 and 2018, by time period
- Reach of TV shows/episodes on a typical weekday in the United States as of January 2018, by daypart
- Internet-connected TV penetration rate in the United States from 2014 to 2017
- Total employment in U.S. broadcasting industries from 2001 to 2019 (in 1,000s)
- Unemployment rate in the U.S. broadcasting* industry from 2001 to 2018
- Average hourly earnings of all employees in U.S. broadcasting industries from 2007 to 2018 (in U.S. dollars)
- Leading cable networks in the United States in 2017, by number of primetime viewers (in millions)
- Leading cable networks in the United States in August 2019, by number of primetime viewers (in millions)
- Leading cable networks in the United States in August 2019, by number of total day viewers (in thousands)
- Leading ad supported broadcast and cable networks in the United States in 2018, by average number of viewers
- Leading cable news networks in the United States in August 2019, by number of primetime viewers (in 1,000s)
- Leading new network TV series in the United States in the 2016-17 season, by number of viewers (in millions)
- Level of trust in TV networks in the United States in 2017, by genre
- Combined evening news audiences on U.S. television networks from 2016 to 2018 (in millions)
- Change in TV content viewing habits among pay TV subscribers in the United States in 2017, by device
- How do you most often decide to watch a new TV series?
- Distribution of binge viewers in the United States in the United States in 2017, by age
- Share of binge-watchers in the United States as of April 2018, by gender
- Most common reasons for binge-watching TV series in the United States as of April 2018
- Would you prefer the ability to make your own pay TV package by selecting only the channels you want to watch?
- TV consumption methods of Millennials in the United States as of April 2017
- Share of weekly linear TV content co-viewing time in the United States as of November 2017, by platform
- Share of consumers who access TV content from the internet in the United States from 2015 to 2017, by age
- Would you like to be able to search for TV shows and movies across all of your TV services*?
- Share of pay TV subscribers who get frustrated finding something to watch on TV in North America from 3rd quarter 2013 to 3rd quarter 2017
- Daily time spent watching TV per capita in the United States from 2014 to 2021 (in hours.minutes)
- Daily time spent watching live TV in the United States in November 2017, by city (in hours)
- Average daily time spent watching TV per capita in the United States in 2018, by gender (in hours)
- Average daily time spent watching TV per capita in the United States in 2018, by age group (in hours)
- Weekly time spent with TV among young adults in the United States from 1st quarter 2011 to 2nd quarter 2017 (in minutes)
- Weekly time 12- to 17-year-olds spend watching TV in the United States in 1st quarter 2018, by source (in minutes)
- Weekly time spent watching TV among Baby Boomers in the United States in 1st quarter 2018, by platform (in minutes)
- Number of original scripted TV series in the United States from 2009 to 2018
- Are you satisfied with the amount of shows and movies available on cable/satellite television?
- Leading syndicated TV programs in the United States from August 2017 to August 2018
- Leading single telecast TV programs in the United States in 2018, based on total viewers (in millions)
- Leading favorite contemporary TV shows according to Millennials in the United States as of April 2018, by rating score
- Leading TV series in the United States as of January 2019, by production costs per episode (in million U.S. dollars)
- Share of consumers who have used selected offline news sources to access news in the last week in the United States as of February 2019
- Leading cable news networks in the United States in 2017, by number of primetime viewers (in thousands)
- Most popular television shows based on audience demand in the United States from July 28 to August 3, 2019 (in million average demand expressions)
- Most popular linear TV content genres to co-view in the United States as of November 2017
- Local TV advertising spending in the United States from 2010 to 2021 (in billion U.S. dollars)
- Leading advertisers on cable TV networks in the United States in 2017, by ad spend (in million U.S. dollars)
- Share of online TV in TV advertising revenue in the United States from 2012 to 2018
- Long-form direct response TV (DRTV) advertising spending in the United States from 4th quarter 2011 to 4th quarter 2017 (in million U.S. dollars)
- Short-form direct response TV (DRTV) advertising spending in the United States from 4th quarter 2010 to 4th quarter 2017 (in million U.S. dollars)
- Leading movie commercials in the United States in week ending August 18, 2019, by television advertising spending (in million U.S. dollars)
- Leading TV shows on broadcast TV in the United States during the 2018/19 TV season, by cost of a 30-second spot (in U.S. dollars)
- Distribution of adult TV viewers in the United States in 4th quarter 2013, by household income
- Distribution of adult TV viewers in the United States in 4th quarter 2013, by ethnicity
- Distribution of adult TV viewers in the United States in 4th quarter 2013, by gender
- Distribution of adult TV viewers in the United States in 4th quarter 2013, by age
- Distribution of TV viewers for series with a predominantly black cast or black main character in the United States in 2016-2017, by ethnicity
- Which devices do you use for watching live tv broadcasts?
- Daily and weekly reach of commercial television in Finland in 2017
- Average television consumption on a weekday in Germany from 2015 to 2019, by hours of viewing time (in million viewers)
- Average daily time spent per individual on watching television in the Asia Pacific region from 2011 to 2018 with forecasts to 2021 (in minutes)
- Television viewing time of children in Germany from 2010 to 2018, by age group (in minutes per day)
- Amount of television watched with TV on in the house in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2013, by parent demographic (in minutes)
- Amount of television watched by children on their own in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2013, by parent demographic (in minutes)
- On average, how much time, if any, do you spend, per week, watching television content whilst out of the home (e.g. whilst commuting or travelling)?*
- Average daily time spent watching television per capita in the Netherlands from 2010 to 2017 (in minutes)**
- Average daily time spent watching television per capita in Western Europe from 2011 to 2021 (in minutes)
- Average daily time spent watching television per capita in Portugal from 2010 to 2018 (in minutes)
- Gender representation on French television from 2012 to 2015
- Share of generational groups who believed that there is not enough diversity on TV in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2017
- Sources for binge viewing TV Shows according to TiVo subscribers in the United States as of March 2015
- Average share of households having a color television in Japan in 2018, by age group of head of household
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