How many tv sets

While our smart phones, tablets, and laptops may have a prominent place in our lives, they haven't quite replaced our televisions. Once rooted in our living rooms or family rooms, the television has moved into our bedrooms, kitchens, and even bathrooms. They've gotten slimmer and more portable. But as they've changed, has our relationship with them has changed as well? We only added a second television to our home in the last year, following the purchase of a newer model.

While turning on the television is usually the last thing I do when I get home, S prefers to have the company it offers. The one in the living room is typically on in the background throughout the day when we're home. Our differing relationship with television means, at the very least, that we rarely disagree on what to watch. Our older set sat in "storage" in the basement for about a year while we debated whether we'd turn the space into a recreation area.

Since we're renting it's too much of an investment, so the second set found its way into our bedroom. While this seems to be a common theme in television-usage and ownership, S and are behind the curve. According to stats from Nielsen , the average American home has 2.

In , the average was 2. Clearly, the viewing public has regarded television ownership as something to aspire to. In a cross cultural study conducted in the s, anthropologist Susan Kent looked at television viewing habits among Navajo, Spanish-American, and Euro-American families.

She found that regardless of ethnic group there were little to no limitations placed on television viewing. In one household, the television was turned on in the morning and left on throughout the day—whether or not there was an active viewer—until the last person went to bed.

In another household all activities were carried out within the proximity of the television: eating, folding clothes, doing homework, reading, and playing occurred in the living room so that family members could watch television, or at least be close to the box. When friends came to visit, television viewing became a focal point for entertaining. This is a fairly consistent pattern as, generally, once television is introduced into a family or community, it's used in the same way: it becomes the center of activity.

Kent found a primary effect of television viewing is that it reduces the variety of activities people might otherwise pursue by limiting them to activities that they can complete near to the television set. For example, among the Navajo who had no television, people were more likely to engage in family discussions, butchering, weaving baskets and blankets, making necklaces, and playing with children.

Once a television was accessible, these activities declined, as did the variety of places in which these activities occurred when they did happen. In a Spanish-American household this pattern was also observed when the television was broken: family members performed a greater diversity of activities in a multitude of locations when their access to television was limited, but once the set was repaired, this diversity was decreased and was limited to the space in which the television was located.

One of the biggest changes from the s to present day is our commitment to the place where we watch television. And that began when the television moved out of our living rooms and into secondary places in our home. During the s to the s, the initial phase of television adoption, the viewer experience was one of scarcity. Choice was limited to a few channels and programs. Cable and television introduced an era of plenty—more channels and more programs.

Women 18 and older watched the most TV, averaging 37 hours, 52 minutes a week. Men of the same age range averaged 33 hours, 43 minutes.

Prime-time continued to demand the highest proportion of viewing with 24 percent. Broadcast network affiliates took 37 percent. In prime time, cable remained the same while 45 percent of viewers tuned into network affiliates. Live variety shows represented 27 percent of the total, followed by comedies with 16 percent.

Prime-time commercials totaled 12,, compared to 12, in and 4, in The entire report is available here. Cover image by Andrea Pi ; story image by Susan Smith. TV Tech. Advertising Global television advertising revenue Julia Stoll. Profit from additional features with an Employee Account. Please create an employee account to be able to mark statistics as favorites. Then you can access your favorite statistics via the star in the header. Profit from additional features by authenticating your Admin account.

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