Audience fragmentation grows

In a development that has implications for the greater world of media fragmentation, a new study find that percentage of TV channels actually watched has fallen to its lowest point ever since Nielsen began tracking the phenomenon in the 1980s. While the average number of channels received by American households hit an all time high in 2007 - 118.6 - the number actually viewed was only 16, only a fraction more than the 15.7 channels tuned to in 2006, the 15.4 channels tuned to in 2005, or the 15.0 channels tuned to in 2004. The finding suggests that while the supply of media options is expanding, consumer attention may have reached its limits. See the whole story at http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=84140&Nid=43564&p=456172

On a personal note to let you know about viewership, last night my 8-months-old kitten was intensely interested in a hi-def program on South American ants. As long as the screen swarmed with ants, she not only wanted intently but tried to get at them. I don't know how that factors into the media viewership picture.