About one-quarter of senior households receive OTA TV programming, says study

Nearly one in four households with seniors 65 years old and older, receive TV programming over-the-air, according to a study released last month from the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS). By way of comparison, the percentage of older Americans relying on over-the-air programming is five percent higher than younger OTA households.

The study also found that of all OTA senior households, only 17 percent own a digital TV.

The new APTS study also found that 41 percent of Americans 65 and older and 55 percent of those younger than 65 have purchased a new television set in the past three years. That suggests that the older viewing population may not be as attuned to recent changes in TV appliance offerings and may not be spending as much time in retail outlets that sell TV sets, the study concluded.

Results are based on about 12,000 telephone interviews concluded in the first quarter of 2007.

For more information, visit: www.apts.org.