(3 October 2005 4:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Television continues to strengthen its stranglehold in US homes. Nielsen Media Research has reported that the average American home watched more television the past TV season as compared with any previous season.

During the 2004-05 TV season which started on 20 September 2004 and ended on 18 September 2005 the average household in the US tuned into the television an average of eight hours and 11 minutes per day. This is
2.7 per cent higher than the previous season, 12.5 per cent higher than 10 years ago, and the highest levels ever reported since television viewing was first measured by Nielsen Media Research in the 1950's.

During the season the average person watched television 4 hours and 32 minutes each day, the highest level in 15 years. In the 1991- 92 season people spent 4 hour and 6 minutes in front of the tube. This fell slightly to 3 hours and 56 minutres in the 1996 - 97 season. Primetime viewing has not seen growth though. It has fallen from one hour and 12 minutes in the 1991-92 season to one hour and eleven minutes in the 2004-2005 season.