/ 06.09.2011 12:00AM
Cable TV Penetration Persists at 21-Year Low
NEW YORK: A record number of
American TV households are receiving video programming via an alternate
delivery system, mostly via direct broadcast satellite, according to an analysis
of Nielsen Media Research data for May 2011 by the Television Bureau of
Advertising. Wired-cable penetration persists at a 21-year low.
According to Nielsen NTI data, national ADS penetration hit 30.9 percent last
month, an all-time high, up from 30.3 percent in May 2010. Wired-cable
penetration, on the other hand, declined to 60.6 percent in May 2011 from 61.1
percent in May 2010—the last time wired-cable penetration had been any lower
was in November 1989.
“It would appear that the cut-the-cord phenomenon is real, and that has
implications for the advertising community,” said Steve Lanzano, president of
the TVB. “Advertisers who buy cable locally need to know that local wired cable
systems’ ability to deliver commercials continues to erode. In fact, in quite a
few markets, a majority of those paying for video programming are now getting
that programming via ADS rather than from a wired-cable system. Local cable
commercials are not seen in ADS homes, and so local advertisers need to deduct
the ADS percentage of the audience if they are included in the cable systems’
submissions.”
In November 2003 Nielsen Media Research began making available hard-wired local
cable numbers and excluding ADS homes via its Total Viewing Sources DVD. But
some third-party processors are still adjusting their software products to use
the DVD and the printed Nielsen books do not break out the numbers separately,
so some advertisers still need to make ADS deductions manually, the TVB said.