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Television Industry - Statistics & Facts
Ernie Kovacs, an American comedian and actor, once said that television was called a medium because it was "neither rare nor well done.” Even though Kovacs died in 1962, his words apply to modern-day TV more than ever.
TV is the most used medium in the United States. It reaches almost 90 percent of the U.S. population and, on average, an American spends over 4.5 hours daily watching TV. Almost 29 percent of American households reported owning an enabled smart TV in 2017, illustrating how the presence of television in households remains strong. Audiences are able to choose from a plethora of programs, with latest figures suggesting there are almost 1,800 TV stations in total.
Recently, trends show that people are starting to turn away from traditional TV, as they begin to look for more interactive entertainment and online sources, including subscription video on demand services, such as Netflix. The number of TV households in the United States has nevertheless increased over the last five years. Despite this seemingly positive trend, viewers have reduced their spending on TV services and watch less TV than they used to. This, in turn, has been very beneficial to the internet, as the amount of time spent online is increasing at a rapid pace.
Advertising and subscription fees, which are the two most important sources of revenue for the sector, will continue bringing in profits for the television industry. Local TV advertising spending has remained relatively steady over the last decade and is projected to be at a similar level in 2021 than it was in 2010. However, in line with the increasing move to online television and entertainment, the share of online TV in TV advertising revenue has grown in recent years, from a 3.1 percent share of the revenue in 2012 to an estimated 4.4 percent in 2016.
Television in the U.S. - Important statistics
- 1. Industry financials
+Growth of the media and entertainment spending in the U.S. 2016-2021, by sector- +Revenue of U.S. TV broadcasters 2005-2015
- +Revenue of U.S. TV broadcasters 2010-2015, by source
- Expenses of U.S. television broadcasters 2007-2015
- TV station revenues in the U.S. 2008-2018, by source
- +TV subscription revenue in the U.S. 2011-2020
- Revenue of the TV stations in the U.S. 2016, by owner
- +Value of M&A deals in broadcast TV sector in the U.S. 2010-2016
- +Local TV: M&A value in the U.S. 1996-2015
- 2. Market data
- +Number of commercial TV stations in the U.S. 1950-2016
- +Number of receivable and tuned channels per U.S. TV household 2008-2013
- +Number of TV households in the U.S. 2000-2017
- +Number of TV households in North America 2010-2021, by platform
- TV households in the largest local TV markets in the U.S. 2016
- +Media reach in the U.S. 2016
- +TV reach in the U.S. March 2017, by age
- +Connected TV penetration rate in the U.S. 2017
- 3. Employment data
- 4. Market leaders
- +Leading cable networks in the U.S. 2016
- +U.S. cable networks: number of primetime viewers 2017
- +Most watched TV networks in the U.S. 2016
- +Millennials: most watched TV networks in the U.S. 2015
- Leading primetime TV networks for spontaneous watching in the U.S. 2015
- +Leading TV networks among teenagers in the U.S. 2015
- +U.S. cable news networks: number of viewers Q2 2017
- 5. Consumer behavior
- +Ways of determining what to watch on TV in the U.S. 2015
- Planned TV viewing habits during primetime hour in the U.S. 2004-2015
- Purposeful primetime TV viewing in the U.S. 2015
- +Leading sources of new TV shows discovery in the U.S. 2014
- +Leading reasons for TV shows time-shifting in the U.S. 2015
- +Number of TV shows binge watched in one sitting in U.S. 2015
- Binge-watching among internet users in the U.S. 2016
- +TV show binge watching methods in U.S. 2015
- +Number of TV channels North Americans watched 2015
- +Interest in tailored pay-TV packages in the U.S. 2016
- +TV viewers who typically watch documentaries in the U.S. 2016
- 6. Time spent
- 7. Content
- Leading primetime TV programming genres viewed in the U.S. 2015
- +Number of scripted TV series in the U.S. 2009-2016
- Most watched TV programs of all time in the U.S. 2015
- +Most watched cable TV telecasts of all time in the U.S. 2015
- +Most watched cable TV series in the U.S. 2016
- +Viewer count of select TV shows in the U.S. in 2014/15 season
- Most expensive TV shows produced as of 2017
- +Types of video content watched on TV by affluent households in 2016
- +Video news consumption in selected countries 2015, by type
- +Leading offline news brands in the U.S. 2017
- +U.S. cable news: number of primetime viewers in 2016
- +Streaming audience of TV shows in the U.S. 2016, by age
- 8. Advertising
- +Cable TV ad revenue in the U.S. 2010-2019
- +Local TV ad spend in the U.S. 2010-2021
- +Share of online TV in TV advertising revenue in the U.S. 2012-2017
- +Long-form DRTV ad spend in the U.S. 2005-2016
- +Short-form DRTV quarterly spend in the U.S. 2010-2016
- Reaction to commercials in primetime TV in the U.S. 2015
- Reaction to commercials in primetime TV in the U.S. 2004-2015
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