Honey, I Shrunk the TV Market

The Hartford/New Haven market remains the 30th largest television market in the country in the latest A.C. Nielsen television viewership ratings, but as reported on WFSB-TV news anchor Dennis House’s blog, the market lost nearly 10,000 TV households in the past year. For the 2011-12 season Nielsen listed 1,006,280 households, and 996,550 for the 2012-13 season for the Hartford/New Haven market.    The rankings of the top 38 markets by size remained unchanged from a year ago, even as some gained and others lost household viewership.  The markets just behind Hartford/New Haven - Kansas City, Columbus,  Salt Lake City and Milwaukee - also lost viewers.

The local broadcast market, which does not include Fairfield County (Nielsen includes it with New York) was not alone in the Northeast in diminishing viewer numbers:  #1 New York,  #7 Boston, #53 Providence,  # 113 Springfield, # 80 Portland,  and # 95 Burlington, VT also suffered losses, but not as dramatic as the drop in Hartford/New Haven.

House reports that in 1986 the Hartford/New Haven market was #21 in the nation by viewing households.   By 1992 it had slipped to #23, and #27 a few years later, then #30.

Moving in the opposite direction, markets including  #2 Los Angeles (gained 50,000 homes,)  #9 Atlanta, # 10 Houston,  #71 Honolulu, even #11 Detroit.    In addition, markets 12-17 all grew:  Seattle, Phoenix, Tampa, Minneapolis, Miami and Denver.