OTA TV Viewership Increases To 54 Million

Research released by GfK Media suggests that over-the-air (OTA) TV viewership drastically increased, to 54 million American viewers, up from 46 million a year ago. According to the report, minorities and younger consumers are at this point more likely to rely on the broadcasting, with 17.8% of American homes exclusively OTA reliant, as compared to 15.0% last year. In total, GfK Media estimates that more than 20.7 million households — or 53.8 million consumers — receive television exclusively through broadcast signals. At the same time, the survey found that a small, but increasing, number of households canceled their paying TV service at their current home. In 2012, 6.9 million households eliminated pay-TV service and now rely on over-the-air reception. In addition, homes headed by younger adults — with a head household age of 18–34 — are more likely to have switched to OTA broadcasting in the last year. Lower-income households similarly trend towards broadcast-only television; 26% of homes with an annual income under $30,000 receive TV signals solely over-the-air. By comparison, 11% of homes with incomes $75,000 or greater rely exclusively on broadcast signals.