Nielsen: Philadelphia Watches a Ridiculous Amount of TV

Nielsen — as in the New York-based company that measures what we as Americans watch on TV and what we buy — just released its latest report, Local Watch, which compares the viewing habits in local television markets throughout the United States. And, wow, Philadelphia, you sure do watch a lot of TV.

According to the Nielsen report, Philadelphians between the ages of 25 and 54 watch 5 hours, 44 minutes of television each day. Only Pittsburgh, Detroit and Tampa outdo us.

And of that age group, African Americans in Philadelphia watch more TV than their counterparts in every major television market except Chicago. The average in that demographic in Philadelphia is nearly eight-and-a-half hours of TV per day.

Other interesting statistics from the report:

• Philadelphians tend to prefer live TV over time-shifted (aka DVR) viewing and video-on-demand, with 68 percent of the prime time television viewing in Philadelphia happening through live TV. Only Pittsburgh has more, with 70 percent. Compare that to Dallas, where only 44 percent comes from live TV, with DVR-watching actually exceeding live TV.

• Philadelphians don’t think Smart TVs are very smart. Only 10 percent of households have them. In San Francisco, that number is 17 percent. In Pittsburgh, it’s 8 percent.

• 72 percent of Philadelphians over the age of 12 have smart phones, the same as in New York City. Orlando tops that list at 82 percent, while Seattle, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Cleveland sit at the bottom, all under 70 percent.

• 42 percent of Philadelphians own a tablet computer, the same as in Los Angeles. Washington D.C., San Francisco, Atlanta and Boston are all over 50 percent.

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All statistics and charts courtesy Nielsen. Photo: Wikipedia Commons.