You wouldn't necessarily know it from the week of June 30-July 6, but Nielsen Media Research says TV viewership is on the rise.
The company said that the average American watched 127¼ hours of television in May, or the equivalent of more than five full days. That's up from 121 hours and 48 minutes in May 2007.
The typical person also spent 26 1/2 hours using the Internet in May, up from 24 hours, 16 minutes the year before, Nielsen said.
So why do TV ratings for individual networks and shows keep going down? That's because of all the choices; nearly two-thirds of American homes now have digital cable or satellite with an average of 160 channels to choose from.
For the broadcast networks, Nielsen's report was a welcome diversion. The week of July 4th is traditionally the lightest week of the year for television watching, with barbecues and fireworks taking precedence over repeats and reality shows on television.
For the week, network averages were: CBS, 6.3 million viewers (4.2 rating, 8 share); NBC, 5.9 million (3.7, 7); Fox, 5.4 million (3.4, 7); ABC, 4.6 million (3.0, 6); CW, 1.4 million (0.9, 2); My Network, 890,000 (0.6, 1); ION, 370,000 (0.2, 0).
In the evening news race: NBC "Nightly News," 7.4 million (5.2, 11); ABC "World News," 6.9 million (4.9, 11); "CBS Evening News," 5.6 million (3.8, 8).
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