Weird Facts

Facts About Television

Facts About Television

Old style TelevisionFAMILY LIFE

The average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day (or 28 hours/week, or 2 months of nonstop TV-watching per year). In a 65-year life, that person will have spent 9 years glued to the tube.

  • Percentage of households that possess at least one television: 99
  • Number of TV sets in the average U.S. household: 2.24
  • Percentage of Americans that regularly watch television while eating dinner: 66
  • Number of hours per day that TV is on in an average U.S. home: 7
  • Number of hours of TV watched annually by Americans: 250 billion
  • Value of that time assuming an average wage of $5/hour: $1.25 trillion
  • Number of videos rented daily in the U.S.: 6 million
  • Number of public library items checked out daily: 3 million
  • Percentage of Americans who say they watch too much TV: 49
  • Percentage of Americans who say they would like to read or visit friends but have no time: 19

    CHILDREN

    There have been more than 4,000 studies about TV's effects on children. While definitive conclusions are difficult to arrive at, most studies suggest that excessive TV-watching correlates with:
    1. aggressive behavior
    2. lower academic performance
    3. a child's belief that he/she will be the victim of a crime
    4. diminished attention spans
    5. stereotyped: a) sex-role attitudes, b) images of older people, c) racial & ethnic perceptions
  • Number of minutes per week that parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children: 38.5

  • Number of minutes per week that the average child watches television: 1,680
  • Percentage of children ages 6-17 who have TV's in their bedrooms: 50
  • Percentage of day care centers that use TV during a typical day: 70
  • Percentage of parents who would like to limit their children's TV watching: 73
  • Percentage of 4-6 year-olds who, when asked to choose between watching TV and spending time with their fathers, preferred television: 54
  • Hours per year the average American youth spends in school: 900 hours
  • Hours per year the average American youth watches television: 1500
  • Percentage of 7th graders who watch more than 3 hours of TV daily: 47
  • Percentage of 7th graders who read daily for pleasure: 27

    VIOLENCE

  • Over 1,000 separate studies and reviews attest that exposure to heavy doses of television violence increases the likelihood of aggressive behavior.
  • Number of murders seen on TV by the time an average child finishes elementary school: 8,000
  • Number of violent acts seen on TV by age 18: 200,000
  • Percentage of Americans who believe TV violence helps precipitate real life mayhem: 79

    COMMERCIALISM

  • Number of 30-second commercials seen in a year by an average child: 20,000
  • Percentage of top ten best-selling toys in 1985 that were tied to TV shows: 100
  • Number of years spent watching commercials in an average lifetime: 1.5
  • Rank of food products/fast-food restaurants among TV advertisements to kids: 1
  • When a contestant leaves Hell’s Kitchen, they are immediately taken for a psychiatric evaluation and then go to a house where they are pampered. Source

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