5 million U.S. Households are "Zero TV"

Some five million U.S. homes now are  zero TV households, meaning that although they may or may not own a TV, they don't use them. according to the Nielsen Co.

The number of such households is up from two million in 2007. 

In 2012, the cable, satellite and telecom video entertainment service providers added just 46,000 video customers collectively, according to SNL Kagan. That is down from net additions of about 974,000 new households added in 2011. 

So while there are 100.4 million homes using "TV," or 84.7 percent of all households, TV-using homes are down from the peak of 87.3 percent in early 2010. 

While 75 percent of the "zero TV" households actually own a physical TV set, only 18 percent are interested in hooking it up through a traditional pay TV subscription.

Of course, some of you already are rhetorically asking "what is a TV?" and "what is a television experience?" 

The point of course is that people can watch on PCs, smart phones and TV screens without using a broadcast TV service or a subscription TV service of the traditional sort. Those are going to be increasingly important questions in the decade to come, for many stakeholders.

At least some younger people might already have lost the appetite for traditional TV altogether. Others might, or might not, eventually acquire the habit later in life. But it is clear enough that "watching a video or a movie" is losing its direct association with a particular purchase and viewing mode.