There will be an estimated 114.7 million U.S. TV households during the '11-12 TV season, according to data from Nielsen Media. That figure is down from 115.9 million homes during the '10-11 TV season, and also marks the first decline in U.S. TV homes since '92. Among the top 10 U.S. markets, the only change is DC moving ahead of Atlanta from No. 9 to No. 8. Seattle-Tacoma moved up to No. 12 in the rankings, passing Phoenix. Other markets moving up in the rankings this year are Pittsburgh, Raleigh-Durham and Indianapolis, while Baltimore, Charlotte and Salt Lake City each moved down in the rankings. Among smaller markets, Ft. Myers-Naples, Savannah and El Paso saw big gains. Tucson, Austin and Toledo each saw significant drops in the rankings (THE DAILY).
| NIELSEN U.S. TV UNIVERSE ESTIMATES |
| TV SEASON | U.S. TV HOMES (MILLIONS) |
| '11-12 | 114.7 |
| '10-11 | 115.9 |
| '09-10 | 114.9 |
| '08-09 | 114.5 |
| '07-08 | 112.8 |
| '06-07 | 111.4 |
| '05-06 | 110.2 |
| '04-05 | 109.6 |
| '03-04 | 108.4 |
| '02-03 | 106.7 |
| '01-02 | 105.5 |
| '00-01 | 102.2 |
| TOP 20 U.S. TV MARKETS |
| '11-12 RANK | PREV. | MARKET |
| 1 | 1 | N.Y. |
| 2 | 2 | L.A. |
| 3 | 3 | Chicago |
| 4 | 4 | Philadelphia |
| 5 | 5 | Dallas-Ft. Worth |
| 6 | 6 | S.F.-Oakland-San Jose |
| 7 | 7 | Boston |
| 8 | 9 | DC |
| 9 | 8 | Atlanta |
| 10 | 10 | Houston |
| 11 | 11 | Detroit |
| 12 | 13 | Seattle-Tacoma |
| 13 | 12 | Phoenix |
| 14 | 14 | Tampa-St. Petersburg |
| 15 | 15 | Minneapolis-St. Paul |
| 16 | 16 | Miami-Ft. Lauderdale |
| 17 | 17 | Denver |
| 18 | 18 | Cleveland-Akron |
| 19 | 19 | Orlando-Daytona Beach |
| 20 | 20 | Sacramento |
