Via Nielsen Wire:
For the 2009-2010 broadcast season Nielsen estimates that the total number of television households within the U.S. (including Alaska and Hawaii) will be 114.9 million. This is an increase of 400,000 homes from last year and the smallest increase in the last 10 years. Nielsen also estimates that the number of Persons age 2 and above (P2+) in U.S. television households will increase slightly to 292 million:
Broadcast Season Universe Estimates Season Homes in Millions 2009-2010 114.9 2008-2009 114.5 2007-2008 112.8 2006-2007 111.4 2005-2006 110.2 2004-2005 109.6 2003-2004 108.4 2002-2003 106.7 2001-2002 105.5 2000-2001 102.2 Source: The Nielsen Company
Wow, even more fascinating is the tiny increase that LA had. Only 0.08% increase, while NYC had an 8% increase.
Get your calculator out again….New York had a .8% increase (less than 1%), LA had a .08% (less than 1/10th of one percent). Both small increases, LA’s smaller.
Damn, I didn’t move the decimal point over far enough, did I? But, still, shows that the economy isn’t keeping people from NY as much as it is from LA, maybe? (Of course, moving to LA right now is a horrible idea for anyone. Don’t repeat my mistakes!)
Does this tell us anything? What’s the total increase in USA population? I would think that what this tells us is in a recession households are being consolidated. People who lose their homes to foreclosure etc, older children are moving back in with parents, more people in fewer households. I see this more as a reflection of the economy as opposed to some significant longterm trend.
Your thoughts, Robert?
Small decrease in 18-49 numbers. http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/2009-2010_local_ues_0828092.pdf
From Zedman’s link:
The year-to-year increases in the total number of U.S. television households and persons were generally smaller than those experienced in previous years. This diminished growth in the number of households is consistent with lower levels of housing unit growth due to the downturn in the U.S. housing market. The smaller than historic increases can also be attributed to the integration of the most recent set of annual population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, which due to methodological enhancements, indicated slightly lower U.S. population figures and growth levels than previously estimated.
So the economy explains the small household increase, but I wonder how much the economy can explain the small P2+ increase and the 18-49 decrease, and how much is just the better counting from the census bureau. I haven’t heard of Americans leaving the country in droves to find employment elsewhere, though I suppose there is at least a decline in immigration due to the economy.
thanks for posting that Zedman2. No surprise at all, I wish I had the data plotting that for the last 20 years. On a guess, that has been the trend since around ~2003 as roughly half the boomers already turned 50, and will continue another few few years while the remaining under 50 boomers cross into 50+ country.
Ah, yes, that whole aging thing. Forgot about that.
FWIW I was told recently that the smaller than normal increase is due to legal immigrants choosing to go back to their country of origin, the implication being that the economy has resulted in a lack of opportunity. These are not illegals or persons who have become US citizens, but people in the country legally on work/student visas.
Like I said, take it FWIW. Interesting theory.