Venerable audience measurement arbiter Nielsen Media Research says the national TV audience is getting more ethnic, Southern, Western, and a little older, according to its estimates for the 2005-06 viewing season.
The total number of television households within the U.S. (including Alaska and Hawaii) is now estimated at 110,200,000, according to the Nielsen report released yesterday, and this estimate will be used as the television audience “universe” for the entire 2005-2006 television season.
Nielsen’s estimates also reflect the continued growth of the U.S. ethnic populations. The Hispanic and Asian populations continue to be the fastest growing in the United States. While the total number of television homes increased by half a percent, the number of Hispanic television homes in the U.S. increased by 2.9% (to 11.2 million), the number of Asian television homes increased by 3.2% (to 4.2 million), and African American television homes increased by 0.8% (to 13.3 million).
Due to the aging of the baby boom generation, born 1946 to 1964 when the U.S. birth rates were at record high levels, the percentage of the nation over 55 rose to 24% for ’05-06 from 23% in ’03-04, and the continued migration south and west — the U.S. Census Bureau estimates 60 of the 100 fastest growing counties are in the southern portion of the U.S. and 23 are in the west — 13 or the top 20 TV markets are in the South or the West:
1 New York
2 Los Angeles
3 Chicago
4 Philadelphia
5 Boston (Manchester)
6 San Francisco-Oak-San Jose
7 Dallas-Ft. Worth
8 Washington, DC (Hagrstwn)
9 Atlanta
10 Houston
11 Detroit
12 Tampa-St. Pete (Sarasota)
13 Seattle-Tacoma
14 Phoenix (Prescott)
15 Minneapolis-St. Paul
16 Cleveland-Akron (Canton)
17 Miami-Ft. Lauderdale
18 Denver
19 Sacramnto-Stkton-Modesto
20 Orlando-Daytona Bch-Melbrn
It will be interesting to see how the industry responds to these realities.