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nerdgirl

Average Daily Television Viewing

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The OECD's “Communications Outlook 2009” gives a breakdown of average household television viewing time (graph on p. 193 of the full document[/url]). The reported times are similar to what is shown in the attached graph from the OECD’s 2007 report.

On average, American’s watch 8.2 hours of TV, by household, per day.
The next highest OECD state, Greece, watches an average of 4.2h/day.
The lowest is Switzerland with an average of 2.4h/day.

What do folks think about that? Good? Bad? Evidence we have better TV programming? Indifferent?

/Marg

Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters.
Tibetan Buddhist saying

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Wow. That's alot! Can't imagine how you can fit 8.2 hours of TV veiwing into 1 day.



That's per household.

With multiple TVs and viewers and people that simply run the TV as background noise, it's easy.
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Wow. That's alot! Can't imagine how you can fit 8.2 hours of TV veiwing into 1 day.



That's per household.

With multiple TVs and viewers and people that simply run the TV as background noise, it's easy.



Since in my household the value is effectively zero*, I think 8.2 hours a day is a lot anyhow you rationalize it.

* We did watch the Superbowl this year.
...

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What do folks think about that? Good? Bad? Evidence we have better TV programming? Indifferent?



The amount of time a house has a TV switched on really says nothing about the quality of the programming. It might say something interesting about how much more influenced we can be by it, but quality of programming; I don't think so. Desirability over other forms of media; maybe.

So, maybe it's "A" quality of the programming instead of "THE" quality of programming.
quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

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Since in my household the value is effectively zero*, I think 8.2 hours a day is a lot anyhow you rationalize it.



I don't think so. My house probably makes up for yours. If I'm home I usually have news running in the background (old habits die hard). I'm not really watching it, but it's on in case something breaks. My wife is pretty much the same way in her office with any one of a number of programs. That might add up to a total of over 24 hours for a single day between just the two of us.
quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

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Your dog must be a pop culture expert. Like to have it for a partner in Trivial Pursuit.
" . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

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Wow. That's alot! Can't imagine how you can fit 8.2 hours of TV veiwing into 1 day.



That's per household.



Good point.


(Did ya really think that I didn’t think of that? ;):P)


The average US household size has been steadily declining (US Census Bureau data). The most recent data (2005-2007)found the average US household size to be 2.6. Geographical variation across the US.

Data from other nation-states:

The average household size is Switzerland is 2.3 (i.e., Average 1.0h/person to 3.2h/person in the US assuming that multiple never watch TV at the same time, which is an artificial constraint).

Others OECD nation-states with household size comparable to the US include:
Denmark ~4h/day TV viewing for average household of 2.2
Japan ~3.5h/day TV viewing for average household of 2.8
Norway ~2.5h/day TV viewing for average household of 2.2
Greece ~4h/day TV viewing for average household of 2.6

The ones where household size does play a bigger factor in the constrained per person calculation include
Poland (maybe) ~4h/day TV viewing for average household of 3.1 (~1.3h/person)
Turkey ~3.5h/day TV viewing for average household of 4.6 (~0.8h/person)

/Marg

Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters.
Tibetan Buddhist saying

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Wow. That's alot! Can't imagine how you can fit 8.2 hours of TV veiwing into 1 day.



Concur.

And at least for the US household calculation, dogs watching TV regardless of channel selected don't count. (My cats watching TV don't either ... altho' they sleep most of the day.)

/Marg

Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters.
Tibetan Buddhist saying

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Wow. That's alot! Can't imagine how you can fit 8.2 hours of TV veiwing into 1 day.



Concur.

And at least for the US household calculation, dogs watching TV regardless of channel selected don't count. (My cats watching TV don't either ... altho' they sleep most of the day.)


/Marg


But the real question is...what do you force them to watch?
Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

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But the real question is...what do you force them to watch?



Other than staying off the dining room table and using their very fancy litterbox, I don't force them to do anything. They're cats. :P

My mom got me one of those birds/fish/whatever videos for cats one year for Christmas. They had zero interest. When I travel, I do try to leave the local NPR station playing on a radio.

/Marg

Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters.
Tibetan Buddhist saying

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That's per household.



Good point.


(Did ya really think that I didn’t think of that? ;):P)


I kinda assumed you knew what the stat was talking about, but was fairly certain most other people would misinterpret it since the graph showed a single kid 12 inches from a set starring into it.

It's a misleading stat and graphic for those unfamiliar with how these things are counted. In fact, nobody has to even be watching the TV for it to count. It just needs to be turned on. Unless, that is, they happen to use different methodologies than I'm aware of. Did they mention that? Or are they just using standard Neilson or Arbitron and extrapolating from that?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen_Ratings
quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

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The OECD's “Communications Outlook 2009” gives a breakdown of average household television viewing time (graph on p. 193 of the full document[/url]). The reported times are similar to what is shown in the attached graph from the OECD’s 2007 report.

On average, American’s watch 8.2 hours of TV, by household, per day.
The next highest OECD state, Greece, watches an average of 4.2h/day.
The lowest is Switzerland with an average of 2.4h/day.

What do folks think about that? Good? Bad? Evidence we have better TV programming? Indifferent?

/Marg



I didn't read the report, but is this programming TV or doing things involving TV?

I mean - is it 8.2 hrs watching programming or 8.2 hrs of programming + Tivo + movies + videogames?

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I didn't read the report, but is this programming TV or doing things involving TV?

I mean - is it 8.2 hrs watching programming or 8.2 hrs of programming + Tivo + movies + videogames?



It refers to viewing broadcast or cable television programming, so watching videos/DVDs and gaming would not be included in those results.

/Marg

Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters.
Tibetan Buddhist saying

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Haven't had it for about 3 years and don't miss it. There is no local service here, and I choose not to subscribe to satellite. We subscribe to netflex and share dvds and tapes with friends. While visiting any of 2 bars, I get to watch boring sports events (do like the hunting and bull riding stuff), but never get the news in a bar here. OK, I confess. I do miss Lou Dobbs, the History and Discovery Channels.

Hours actually watching TV: maybe .5 every 2 weeks.
Do your part for global warming: ban beans and hold all popcorn farts.

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* We did watch the Superbowl this year.



Really???

You never watch TV, yet made an exception for football?

While I support my team by wearing cute Ts on game day, I do not watch. I read when Bill watches.

Eight hours/day/household seems high to me, but not-so-much when I know otherwise productive and successful individuals who spend their Saturday and/or Sunday watching football.

I would say for me about one to two hours/day and would be longer if not for only watching what has been pre-recorded on my DVR.

I do not care who you are, there is some great stuff on TV. B|
Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

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I didn't read the report, but is this programming TV or doing things involving TV?
I mean - is it 8.2 hrs watching programming or 8.2 hrs of programming + Tivo + movies + videogames?


It refers to viewing broadcast or cable television programming, so watching videos/DVDs and gaming would not be included in those results.
/Marg



Although TiVo/DVR usually does count depending on how the house is wired and hooked up to the rating service.
quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

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Wow. That's alot! Can't imagine how you can fit 8.2 hours of TV veiwing into 1 day.



That's per household.

With multiple TVs and viewers and people that simply run the TV as background noise, it's easy.



at that point, what really is the value of the metric, then?

If that value was divided by the average number of TVs in the household for each nation, would the delta diminish a lot, or a little?

I spent the last 2 weeks in places where there were always 3 simultaneous soccer games available on TV. Could be a lot of viewing time there.

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I turn on my Tivo and TV to watch something for an hour.... then turn off the TV and forget about the Tivo... sometimes for weeks at a time. Looks like I'm watching for 24/7 when in fact it's a couple of hours a month. Others do this too. Skews the stats a bit.
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I turn on my Tivo and TV to watch something for an hour.... then turn off the TV and forget about the Tivo... sometimes for weeks at a time. Looks like I'm watching for 24/7 when in fact it's a couple of hours a month. Others do this too. Skews the stats a bit.



Are you sure? (Not w/r/t your viewing habits [obviusly you know those better than anyone :P] but the effect on the reported household viewing figures.)

/Marg

Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters.
Tibetan Buddhist saying

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