Nielsen reveals TV usage by income

Lower income US households spend more time watching television and using their connected devices than their higher income counterparts, according to new research from Nielsen.

The audience measurement specialist found that while higher income households typically have more devices and subscribe to more services, the lower income consumers spent more time using the devices they have.

“Higher-income households own more different kinds of media devices and subscribe to more services,” noted Glenn Enoch (pictured), senior VP, audience insights at Nielsen.

“This is particularly evident with newer devices and services such as smart TVs, multimedia devices, tablets and SVOD. The most interesting finding on the usage side is that users in lower-income households spend more time with every device that they use than high-income households.”

The Total Audience Report for Q3 found that TV, because it has total penetration, accounts for a greater proportion of overall media use in the lower income homes.

“TV – which has nearly total penetration – accounts for a greater percentage of media usage among lower-income adults because they watch TV more at every hour of the day,” said Enoch.

In terms of digital devices, Nielsen found that despite lower ownership rates in lower income homes, the greater level of usage offset the difference.

“In the case of TV-connected devices, higher penetration among high-income adults is balanced by higher usage among low-income adults. These findings refer to overall use of each platform.”