7% of U.S Homes Rely on Over-the-Air TV: CEA Study

About 7% of U.S. TV homes rely solely on over-the-air signals to get TV programming, the Consumer Electronics Association found in a phone survey of 1,009 adults.

That's down 1% from the findings of a 2010 CEA study, the group said. That’s also down a couple notches from a 2012 Nielsen study showing that 9% of all U.S. TV homes are over-the-air only, down from 16% in 2003. “The vast majority of Americans no longer rely on over-the-air TV signals,” said CEA president and CEO Gary Shapiro, in a statement regarding the new study “Consumers have moved away in droves from traditional broadcast television thanks to a surge in programming alternatives available through wired and wireless broadband connections.” He said this trend means “Congress had it right when they authorized the FCC to hold voluntary broadcast spectrum incentive auctions to reallocate broadcast television spectrum to greater uses, like wireless broadband. This study provides yet another reason why it is time for broadcast spectrum to be reallocated, and quickly.”