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Nielsen: U.S. TV Households Up to 114.4 Million

Aug 23, 2006  •  Post A Comment

Nielsen Media Research on Wednesday said it raised its estimate of the number of television households in the U.S. by 1.1 percent to 114.4 million and issued its post-Hurricane Katrina numbers for New Orleans, which is now estimated to be market No. 54. It was Market 43 before the storm.

The new numbers will be used for the 2006-07 television season by the ratings company.

The growth of the baby boomer generation is reflected by a 3.9 percent increase in the 55- to 64-year-old demographic. People in their teens and early 20s—known as Generation Y, or echo boomers—increased by 2 percent.

In local markets, Nielsen made changes for the hurricane-devastated New Orleans market. Nielsen estimates there are 566,980 TV households in the market, down from 672,150 last year. Nielsen said that because traditional demographic sources are not up to date or do not yet reflect the post-hurricane population changes, Claritas produced these estimates using alternative sources and methods. These sources included information from local demographers, the Red Cross and FEMA.

The new figures also show Las Vegas jumping up five places on the DMA list to become Market 43.