American use of land line phones and television is significantly down from previous years.
According to Pew Research Center, only 74% of U.S. households have a land line phone in 2009, down from over 97% in 2001. This contrasts to 82% of Americans who now carry cell phones, which is up over 53% since 2000. Please note that landlines are counted by household, while cell phones seem to reflect individual usage. This means that cell phones outnumber land line telephone instruments by a substantial margin. This phenomenon is referred to as cord cutting.
Additionally, television is not as important as it used to be. The survey reports that only 42% of Americans surveyed consider television an essential part of their lives. The younger adult crowd (18 – 29 years old) is even less connected to television with only 33% considering TV essential to their lives. Gone are the days when Sunday night meant the family gathered around the television at 7 pm to watch “Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color” (yes, I just dated myself).
The impact of all this is dramatic. Fewer eye balls are watching television ads. Telemarketers have less homes and businesses to call. And, everything else is being sent to the cell phone.
John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2010
All rights reserved.