ARF Says TV Household Definition Change More Urgent

US-based association the ARF has reiterated its call for a change in the definition of TV audience measurement, to include all households consuming TV signals, not just those who own television sets. The call follows an ARF study highlighting the growth of mobile-device-only households.

The ARF's DASH 2023 TV Universe Study suggests that 6% of US households now watch TV exclusively on mobile devices - more than a million such homes, characterised in the main by younger viewers, have been added to the total in the last year. The ARF first called for the change in March 2023 and says it is now more urgent.

DASH is run annually in collaboration with NORC at the University of Chicago and a technical committee of measurement experts; is conducted online, in-person and by phone; and creates a picture of how Americans connect to and consume TV. The latest study used a national probability sample of more than 10,000 adults to produce reliable, projectable results for the benefit of the media industry.

In other highlights, the reports suggests that the penetration of paid AVOD services more than doubled in 2023, to nearly half of US households, with age (younger households) rather than income driving the change; and that Broadband Only (BBO) access 'may have plateaued in 2023'.

Chief Research Officer Paul Donato comments: 'The trend toward TV access exclusively on mobile devices shows no signs of letting up, particularly because younger households drive the trend. Not surprisingly, younger households are behind many of the dynamics changing the shape of TV, as highlighted in the DASH 2023 report'.

Web site: www.thearf.org .