TELEVISION
According to BROADCASTING & CABLE YEARBOOK, there are 1,663
TV stations in the U.S. Of the total, 692 are VHF stations, of
which 567 are commercial and 125 are non-commercial, and 971 are
UHF stations, of which 721 are commercial and 250 are non-commercial.
There are 598 commercial TV stations that are independents with
no network affiliations.
There were 133 digital TV stations licensed or on official program
test authority as of March 28, 2001.
Based on the most recent findings of Nielsen Media Research,
TV is watched daily in the average American home for 7 hours and
29 minutes. Recent statistics show that approximately 59.1% of
U.S. homes use TV during the nightly prime-time viewing hours
of
8-11 PM Monday through Saturday and 7-11 PM Sunday. Per average
minute during this time period, 38% of the audience are men; 44%
are women; 7% are teens and 11% are children.
Roper-Starch Worldwide’s most recent data show 69% of the
U.S. public turns to TV as the source of most of its news about
national and international issues, with 53% ranking it as the
most believable news source.
(Sources: BROADCASTING & CABLE YEARBOOK; Nielsen Media Research;
Roper-Starch Worldwide Inc.)Inc.)
RADIO
The Radio Advertising Bureau’s (RAB) latest statistics show
99% of all U.S. homes have radios.
The Spring 2000 RADAR report (Radar 65), compiled by Statistical
Research Inc., shows nearly 96% (95.7%) of people aged 12+, or
215,265,000 Americans, listen to 15 minutes of radio per week.
In any quarter hour, 25,152,000 tune in. FM stations claim 87.2%
of the national and network audience aged 12+; 83.9% are reached
by stations with network programming.
At our last count, MEDIA DISTRIBUTION SERVICES listed 4,406 AM
and 6,138 FM stations that are valid publicity outlets in the
U.S. and Canada.
BROADCASTING & CABLE YEARBOOK 2001 lists country music as
the most popular format for both AM and FM stations in the U.S.,
followed by adult contemporary and news/talk. In Canada, adult
contemporary is the most popular format, followed by country and
contemporary hit/top 40.
(Sources: Radio Advertising Bureau; Statistical Research, Inc.;
MDS; BROADCASTING & CABLE YEARBOOK)
MAGAZINES
The National Directory of Magazines references some 20,000 magazines,
but the total includes a large number of non-commercial publications,
many of them house organs. In September 2001, Standard Rate &
Data Service (SRDS), the “bible” for the U.S.
advertising industry, listed 2,772 consumer magazines and 5,214
business and trade publications in the U.S. and Canada. Annually,
several hundred new magazines are launched in the U.S. In the
first half of 2001, the Magazine Publishers Association (MPA)
listed 156 new magazines. The MPA reports that the average time
spent with a magazine is 47 minutes; 93% are read at home, 67%
are read out of home.
(Sources: National Directory of Magazines; SRDS; Magazine Publishers
Association)
NEWSPAPERS
At our last count, MDS listed 1,573 daily newspapers in the U.S.
and another 112 in Canada. We have 255 daily newspapers in the
U.S. with a circulation above 50,000 and 9,269 community newspapers
in the U.S. and Canada, including monthlies and alternative newspapers.
According to The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press,
61% of the U.S. public said newspapers are their principal source
for most national and international news. According to the Newspaper
Association of America, the Spring 2001 Competitive Media Index
found that over half of all adults (53.5%) in the top 50 U.S.
markets read a daily newspaper and nearly two thirds (63.8%) read
one on Sunday.
(Sources: MDS; The Pew Research Center for People and the Press;
Newspaper Association of America)
ONLINE MEDIA
The 2001 EDITOR & PUBLISHER yearbook lists 1,163 websites
for daily newspapers and 1,940 for weeklies, and more than half
of all the consumer and trade magazines currently listed in Standard
Rate & Data Service directories have websites. BROADCASTING
& CABLE YEARBOOK 2001 lists about 4,800 U.S. and Canadian
radio stations on the internet, with approximately 915 U.S. and
Canadian TV stations online. Nearly 75% of online newspaper readers
said that their print reading habits have not changed since they
began looking at online newspapers. Among adults who read online
newspapers, 67% read a printed daily and 78% read a printed Sunday
edition.
(Sources: BROADCASTING & CABLE YEARBOOK 2001; Newspaper Association
of America; 2001 EDITOR AND PUBLISHER
YEARBOOK)
