More than 70 million TV sets in U.S. households, or 23 percent of all TV sets in the country, do not receive cable or Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) programming, according to research from Leichtman Research Group (LRG).
While only 15 percent of households nationwide do not subscribe to cable, DBS or any other type of multichannel video service, these households account for only half of all broadcast-only TV sets. The other half are in households that subscribe to cable or DBS. Nine percent of TV sets in cable households are broadcast only and 19 percent of TV sets in DBS households are broadcast only.
The findings, part of LRG’s “Cable and DBS: Competing for Customers 2007” report, are based on a telephone survey of 1600 randomly selected households from throughout the United States.
Other key findings:
- 70 percent of all TV sets in cable households are not connected to a set-top box;
- 42 percent of households that subscribe to cable TV do not have any cable set-top boxes;
- The mean number of TV sets in digital cable households is 3.1 — compared to 2.7 in analog cable households; 2.9 in DBS households (where cable is available); and 2.1 in households that do not subscribe to a TV service.
According to Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, only 36 percent of all TV sets in the country are connected to cable or DBS set-top boxes.
For more information, visit www.leichtmanresearch.com.
