Carried out by measurement firm Nielsen, the study set out to investigate the growth of broadcast-only television households and their overall impact in the marketplace. It was also designed to support ION Media’s TV station and affiliate portfolio expansion which the company claims will give US households greater access to independent and affordable entertainment, kids’ and lifestyle programming.

The study found younger, millennial viewers in the US are continuing to discover the benefits of broadcast television in the same way that older generations are. Broadcast-only homes have a higher percentage of young viewers, with a median age of 34.5, than total TV households (39.6). Additionally, almost two-fifths of broadcast-only homes have children in the household, compared with 34% of total TV households. Broadcast-only homes were also found to have a greater composition of working head of householders than total TV homes, with two-thirds in the general labour force.

ION Media also found that the growing multicultural population in the US has placed an emphasis on programming that caters to diverse audiences. The data showed that this has become increasingly important among broadcast-only homes, as the report concluded that they represent a significantly higher composition of Hispanic, African-American and Asian households, 42%, compared with 30% of total TV households.