Ignorant Americans Viewing More TV Than Ever!

[Guest guest]

[is it any wonder this nation is so ignorant,

arrogant, and illiterate! Rick.]

 

Source >

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/bal-te.tv30sep30,0,5774083.story?coll=ny-en\

tertainment-headlines

 

 

Americans viewing TV at record levels

Over 8 hours per household, Nielsen says

 

By David Zurawik

Sun television critic

 

September 30, 2005

 

Members of U.S. households spent more time last year

than ever in front of a TV set, according to a report

released yesterday by Nielsen Media Research. And as

the new fall season swings into action, the rise in

viewing continues - a development certain to alarm

those who blame the medium for contributing to obesity

in children and shorter attention spans, even as the

trend cheers industry insiders.

 

The study, conducted by the world's largest provider

of TV and audience data, found that during the

2004-2005 television season, members of average

American homes collectively spent 8 hours and 11

minutes per day watching TV. (The season ran from

Sept. 20, 2004, to Sept. 18, 2005.)

 

The figure - 2.7 percent higher than last year and

12.5 percent above viewing levels a decade ago -

represents the greatest amount of time being spent

watching TV in American homes since Nielsen began

measuring national audiences in the 1950s.

 

Individually, Americans watched more television than

they have in 15 years, according to the study, which

put each person's daily viewing time at 4 hours and 32

minutes. That's seven more minutes per day than during

the previous TV season.

 

" The perception has been that TV viewing is going down

and that people are using other media, " said Karen

Gyimesi, a Nielsen spokeswoman. " But we're not seeing

that. ... Obviously, viewership for the big networks

has fluctuated, but, overall, TV watching is up. "

 

Nielsen's Matt Tatham attributed the record level of

TV time to changes in lifestyle as well as growth in

programming choices. " More people are consuming more

media in the home than ever - all kinds of media. And

there is more television than ever to spend more time

consuming, " he said.

 

Yesterday, some analysts linked the rise in TV viewing

to a widely reported decline in movie attendance. In

May, the film industry reported that moviegoing was

down 9 percent from the previous year.

 

" Based on our research of consumers and media use,

we're not surprised that Nielsen found more television

viewing than ever, " said Abe Novick, senior vice

president at Baltimore-based Eisner Communications,

one of the country's most sophisticated television

viewer research operations. " There is a connection

between fewer people going to movies and more people

spending more time than ever with TV. ... Simply put,

television is offering viewers so much more these

days. "

 

But he also cited last year's presidential election,

the Iraq war and recent natural disasters as factors

contributing to the increased time spent with TV:

" Just look at how much viewing has been done in

connection with Hurricane Katrina. "

 

While many in Hollywood have blamed the film

industry's box-office slump on consumers watching DVDs

at home rather than going to theaters, the

record-setting Nielsen figures measured the amount of

time spent by viewers watching TV programs on the day

or night they aired, Gyimesi said. So, the impact of

DVDs is a separate matter altogether.

 

As for this year, the number of people watching the

first week of new fall series was 6.3 percent larger

than the audience for the first week last year - 115.8

million viewers compared with 102.5 million.

 

david.zurawik

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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