TV ownership drops in the US for the first time in 20 years, according to Nielsen-- 96.7% of American households own TV sets, down from 98.9% recorded previously.
Nielsen says there are 2 reasons-- the economic situation and advancing technology.
The "persistently rocky economy" is a reason Nielsen also cited back in 1992, the last time the percentage of homes with TVs declined. Some low-income households cannot afford to replace their analog sets with digital TVs and receivers.
Such households would probably not have any internet access, either.
The other non-TV owning Americans are the internet video viewers, who go without TVs or paying for cable services. Nielsen says these make part of a subset of "younger, urban consumers".
Is this the start of a larger shift towards online viewing, or will it rectify once the economy improves? Not even Nielsen is sure, for now, even if its data shows consumersview more video content across all platforms.
