Well, maybe not just yet.
It’s interesting to note, though, that for the first time in nearly 20 years, the number of homes in the United States with television sets has actually dropped.
The Nielsen Co., which takes TV set ownership into account when it produces ratings, now estimates that 96.7 percent of American households now own sets, down from 98.9 percent previously.
Nielsen posits two reasons for the decline. One is poverty: Some low-income households no longer own TV sets, most likely because they cannot afford new digital sets and antennas.
The other, and in our view more consequential driver, is technology. Many Millennials can barely remember a world without YouTube or Hulu and don’t see a compelling need for a TV set. Instead, they are getting their TV and Movie content direct from the Internet.
That second reason is prompting Nielsen to think about a redefinition of the term “television household” to include Internet video viewers.
“We’ve been having conversations with clients,” said Pat McDonough, the senior vice president for insights and analysis at Nielsen, “That would be a big change for this industry, and we’d be doing it in consultation with clients if we do it.”
The broader issue here is convergence. TV sets are just one of many screens. Today we don’t “Watch TV” as much as “Consume Video”. Consumers control where, when and how they do this. Our research tools need to evolve to capture this consumption. Audience numbers will not be enough. We need to understand levels of engagement across platforms. If I’m willing to drain my battery to watch on my mobile device am I more engaged that if I’m multitasking in the living room? Perhaps. Let’s see the numbers.