TV audio sits within a much larger television environment: households own multiple displays, audiences divide time between broadcast and online video, and accessibility features shape how people hear and understand programs. The figures below cover U.S., UK and worldwide measures from different periods, so each statistic retains its original population and limitation.
Key TV Audio Statistics
These are the most useful headline figures in the dataset:
- In 2020, U.S. owner households averaged 2.4 televisions in the installed base.
- Between 2010 and 2020, the number of televisions in U.S. homes fell 19% from its peak.
- In 2020, the average U.S. television screen measured 42 inches, up from 39 inches in 2017.
- In 2020, LCD or LED models made up 90% of televisions in U.S. homes.
- In 2020, 58% of the U.S. installed television base was smart- or connected-capable.
- Among connected-capable televisions in the 2020 U.S. survey, 82% were reported as enabled.
- U.S. televisions averaged 5.8 hours of on-time per day in 2020.
- UK people aged 4 and over watched 4 hours 30 minutes of in-home video per day in 2024 across all devices.
- UK broadcast-TV viewing on TV sets averaged 2 hours 24 minutes per day in 2024, down 4% year on year.
- Average weekly UK broadcast-TV reach was 73.8% in 2024 among people aged 4 and over.
- UK viewers aged 65 and over had 94% weekly broadcast-TV reach in 2024.
- UK viewers aged 16–24 had 45% weekly broadcast-TV reach in 2024.
- Televisions consumed 54 terawatt-hours in U.S. homes in 2020.
- U.S. television energy use was 54% higher in 2020 than in 2017.
- UK video-sharing-platform viewing reached 51 minutes per day in 2024, up 5% year on year.
- YouTube viewing through UK household TV sets rose from 34% to 41% in 2024.
- 100% of UK broadcast television channels met or exceeded access-service requirements in 2024.
- Among responding UK on-demand providers, 38.6% offered audio description in 2024.
- Nearly 2.5 billion people worldwide are projected to have some degree of hearing loss by 2050.
- More than 1 billion young adults are at risk of permanent avoidable hearing loss from unsafe listening practices.
Contents
- Key TV Audio Statistics
- TV Audio Scale and Installed Television Data
- Television Viewing Time and Audience Reach
- TV Energy Use, Efficiency and Household Costs
- Connected-TV and Online Video Adoption
- Television Accessibility and Audio Description Provision
- Hearing Outcomes and Safe-Listening Context
TV Audio Scale and Installed Television Data
The U.S. installed base provides useful context for TV audio demand. These are ownership and capability estimates, not soundbar sales or active service subscriptions.
| Measure | Result | Period and population |
|---|---|---|
| Televisions per owner household | 2.4 | 2020, U.S. owner households |
| Change from installed-base peak | 19% below | 2010–2020, U.S. homes |
| Average screen size | 42 inches, up from 39 inches | 2017–2020, U.S. installed TV base |
| LCD or LED share | 90% | 2020, U.S. homes |
| Smart- or connected-capable share | 58% | 2020, U.S. installed base |
Source: Display Energy Use in Homes: Ownership, Power, Usage, and Trends.
Among connected-capable televisions in the 2020 U.S. survey, 82% were reported as enabled. This is self-reported capability status; it does not identify which service was used.
Average active-mode power was 81 watts per U.S. television in 2020, while televisions averaged 5.8 hours of on-time per day. On-time is not identical to active viewing, and actual power draw varies with model, settings and content.
Television Viewing Time and Audience Reach
UK viewing data shows how TV audio is consumed across broadcast, recorded and online formats. In-home video across all devices reached 4 hours 30 minutes per day for people aged 4 and over in 2024.
| UK measure | 2024 result | Comparison or scope |
|---|---|---|
| Broadcast-TV viewing on TV sets | 2 hours 24 minutes/day | Down 4% year on year |
| Weekly broadcast-TV reach | 73.8% | Down 1.7 percentage points from 2023 |
| Broadcaster content share of in-home video | 56% | Down from 57% in 2023 |
| Broadcaster video-on-demand | 25 minutes/day | People aged 4+ |
| Recorded playback of live channels | 23 minutes/day | People aged 4+ |
| SVoD or AVoD | 40 minutes/day; 15% | People aged 4+ |
Source: Media Nations 2025 – UK Report.
Reach varies strongly by age. Broadcast-TV reached 94% of UK people aged 65 and over each week in 2024, compared with 45% of people aged 16–24.
TV Energy Use, Efficiency and Household Costs
Television energy is part of a broader residential electronics category. Consumer electronics used 176 terawatt-hours in U.S. homes in 2020, corresponding to about $23 billion in energy cost, or an average of $193 per household.
| Energy measure | Result | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Consumer-electronics energy | 176 TWh | U.S. homes, 2020 |
| Estimated energy cost | About $23 billion/year | U.S. consumer electronics, 2020 |
| Average household cost | $193/year | U.S. consumer electronics, 2020 |
| Residential electricity share | 12% | U.S. consumer electronics, 2020 |
| Display-related energy | About 70 TWh; 40% | TVs, monitors and portable displays |
| Television energy | 54 TWh/year | U.S. homes, 2020 |
Source: Display Energy Use in Homes: Ownership, Power, Usage, and Trends.
Television energy use was 54% higher in 2020 than in 2017, mainly because of increased usage. The report also found that average LCD-TV power density fell 80% between 2005 and 2015 across more than 9,000 models, while TV model screen size grew 20% from 2010 to 2016; these model trends were not sales-weighted.
Connected-TV and Online Video Adoption
UK audiences increasingly used television sets as screens for online video. Video-sharing-platform viewing rose 5% to 51 minutes per day in 2024 for people aged 4 and over.
| Connected-video measure | Result |
|---|---|
| Video-sharing-platform viewing | 51 minutes/day, up 5% |
| Minority-ethnic audience video-sharing viewing | 1 hour 22 minutes/day, up 9% |
| Minority-ethnic audience broadcast-TV viewing | 1 hour 18 minutes/day, down 11% |
| YouTube viewing via household TV sets | 41%, up from 34% |
| SVoD/AVoD viewing via TV sets | 88%, up from 85% |
Source: Media Nations 2025 – UK Report.
Age differences remain substantial: UK people aged 16–24 watched 3 hours 19 minutes of in-home video per day in 2024, four minutes less than in 2023, while adults aged 75 and over watched 6 hours 26 minutes, 13 minutes more than in 2023.
Television Accessibility and Audio Description Provision
Accessibility data distinguishes broadcast compliance, provider availability and the share of programming hours carrying a service. In the UK, 100% of broadcast television channels met or exceeded their access-service requirements during January–December 2024.
| Accessibility measure | 2024 result | Comparison or caveat |
|---|---|---|
| Broadcast channels meeting requirements | 100% | UK regulated channels |
| DMAX programming with audio description | 21% | Above its 15% commitment |
| Responding on-demand providers offering subtitles | 95.5% | Up from 89.1% in 2023 |
| Responding providers offering audio description | 38.6% | Up from 32.1% |
| Responding providers offering signing | 22.7% | Versus 22.6% in 2023 |
Source: Television and on-demand programme services: Access services report – January to December 2024.
Among UK on-demand services offering subtitles, 68.7% of programme hours carried subtitles in 2024. Excluding Hotstar, the figure was 85.9%; the difference reflects the conditional provider subset and Hotstar’s large catalogue.
Subtitles were carried on 93.1% of connected-TV platform types reported by responding UK on-demand providers. This is a platform-availability measure, not a measure of viewing hours or household adoption.
Hearing Outcomes and Safe-Listening Context
Global hearing-health statistics provide context for clear, accessible TV audio, but they do not measure television-only exposure. WHO projects that nearly 2.5 billion people will have some degree of hearing loss worldwide by 2050, and more than 700 million will require hearing rehabilitation.
| Global hearing measure | Result | Limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Projected people with some hearing loss by 2050 | Nearly 2.5 billion | Includes any degree of loss |
| Projected people requiring rehabilitation by 2050 | More than 700 million | Need, not receipt of services |
| Children aged 5–19 living with hearing loss | About 95.1 million | Latest WHO estimate published 2026 |
| Annual cost of unaddressed hearing loss | Almost US$1 trillion | Global economic estimate |
| Young adults at risk from unsafe listening | More than 1 billion | Recreational exposure broadly |
| People requiring rehabilitation for disabling loss | 430 million; over 5% | More than 35 dB in the better-hearing ear |
| People over 60 affected by disabling loss | More than 25% | Global age-specific estimate |
Sources: Deafness and hearing loss and New WHO-ITU standard aims to prevent hearing loss among 1.1 billion young people.
The safe-listening risk concerns people aged approximately 12–35 and recreational exposure broadly, rather than television audio alone. The figures therefore support attention to intelligibility, captions, audio description and responsible listening levels without establishing a causal TV-audio outcome.