Nielsen has just released the National Television Household Universe Estimates for the 2020-2021 TV season.
The big takeaway: The number of TV homes in the U.S. increased by 400,000 year-over-year. Furthermore, the number of persons aged 2 and older in U.S. TV Households also jumped — by 0.2%.
According to Nielsen, there are 121 million TV homes in the U.S. for the 2020-21 TV season. That’s up from 120.6 million for the 2019-20 TV season.
Meanwhile, the number of persons age 2 and older in U.S. TV Households is estimated to be 307.9 million, which represents a 0.2% increase from last year. And, to little surprise given long-term demographic analyses, increases in U.S. Hispanic (+1.9%), Black (+0.9%) and Asian (+2.7%) TV households were also seen, due to estimated increases in population growth.
Nielsen uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau, along with information from its national TV panel, to arrive at Advance TV Universe Estimates in early May. It then distributes final Universe Estimates before the start of each TV season.
“The 2021 National Universe Estimates reflect real changes in population since last year and updated TV penetration levels, differentially calculated for qualifying market break and age/sex demographic categories,” Nielsen says.
Additionally, the percentage of total U.S. homes with televisions receiving traditional TV signals via over-the-air antenna, cable, DBS, Telco or via a broadband internet connection connected to a TV set is currently at 96.2%. That’s a nudge upward from the 96.1% estimated last year for 2020.
Nielsen applies TV penetrations to convert the total household and population estimates to TV households and persons therein. The 2021 TV penetration for U.S. households was estimated based on data collected during the recruitment of homes for Nielsen’s People Meter panel. Nielsen’s national definition of a TV household is a home with at least one operable TV set that is able to receive audio and video through a cable, satellite or over-the-air source, or through streaming video from an internet source.
