From Today’s New York Times:
For the first time in 20 years, the number of homes in the United States with television sets has dropped.
The Nielsen Company, which takes TV set ownership into account when it produces ratings, will tell television networks and advertisers on Tuesday that 96.7 percent of American households now own sets, down from 98.9 percent previously.
There are two reasons for the decline, according to Nielsen. One is poverty: some low-income households no longer own TV sets, most likely because they cannot afford new digital sets and antennas.
Regardless – 96.7 percent of American households still have a television and that’s a lot. It is worth remembering that only about one-third of those households have children. It is important that these parents take steps to monitor what their kids watch on TV rather than advocate for the government to dictate what the other two-thirds of American homes – without kids –watch.
A recent Rasmussen poll found that when you drill down to those with children, 60 percent say the current TV rating system is an effective way to warn users and 67 percent rating has an impact making them more or less likely to watch the show.
