The latest report from NeilsenMedia reveals that the average U.S. home now receives 104.2 TV channels, the highest its ever been. Since 2005 that's an increase of 8 channels per household. For 2006, of those 104.2 channels, 15.7 were watched in each home for a minimum of 10 minutes a week.
Of those shows, 50 percent of the primetime offerings are dramas, which is an increase by four shows over last year. In spite of talk to the contrary, the 30-second commercial is still the preferred length, as it still accounts for 57 percent of all TV advertising. The 15-second commercial has declined in the primetime, while increase by a small amount in daytime viewing. As a total the 30-second and 15-second commercials account for 90 percent of all commercials.
Other Findings of the study:
* There are an average of 111.4 million TV homes in the U.S. for the 2006-07 TV season
* The average U.S. TV home has 2.5 people and 2.8 television sets
* 28% of U.S. TV homes have Digital Cable
* 64% of homes have wired cable hook-ups, and 23% have satellite or specialized antenna systems to receive television signals
* 82% of U.S homes have more than one television sets at home
* 84% of U.S. homes have a DVD player
Number of Channels Available in the Average U.S. Home
| YEAR | # of Channels | # of Channels Viewed | % of Available Channels Viewed |
| 2006 | 104.2 | 15.7 | 15.1% |
| 2005 | 96.4 | 15.4 | 16.0% |
| 2004 | 92.6 | 15.0 | 16.2% |
| 2000 | 61.4 | 13.6 | 22.1% |
| 1995 | 41.1 | 10.1 | 24.6% |
| 1990 | 33.2 | n/a | n/a |
| 1985 | 18.8 | n/a | n/a |
Source: Nielsen Media Research, National People Meter Sample
