30.9% Of American TV Homes Using ADS

A record number of American TV households are receiving video programming via an alternate delivery system (ADS), mostly via direct broadcast satellite, according to a TVB analysis of Nielsen Media Research data for May 2011, while wired-cable penetration has declined to a 21-year low.

According to Nielsen NTI data, national ADS penetration hit 30.9% last month, an all-time high that is up from 30.3% in May 2010. Wired-cable penetration, on the other hand, declined to 60.6% in May 2011 from 61.1% 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.  Advertisers who buy cable locally need to know that local wired cable systems’ ability to deliver commercials continues to erode,” said Steve Lanzano, TVB president.

“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,” Lanzano continued. “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.

Top 10 ADS levels in markets 1-50

For more information, including the penetration levels of all 210 DMAs, please visit www.tvb.org or http://www.tvb.org/planning_buying/184839/4729.