The Nielsen Total Audience Report is designed to enable the industry to track changes in media usage. We have consistently reported that overall usage has increased–that a major effect of new devices and services is additive to consumer’s total time spent with media. We have also shown how usage of individual devices and platforms has changed over time as the media landscape continues to evolve.

This iteration of the Nielsen Total Audience Report focuses on the media channel choices within the many different platforms consumers have at their disposal and the amount they routinely turn to.

Number of Channels Viewed Aligns With TV Usage Volumes

Nielsen’s research has consistently demonstrated that viewers watch a relatively small percent of the television networks available to them, but that over the years, both channels available and channels viewed have increased. We now find that channels receivable has started to decrease somewhat, as a result of lower multichannel penetration and cord-shaving. We also see that the number of different channels viewed is also lower, though by a very small amount–just one less channel over two years for the average adult TV viewer.