D.C. Moves Up to Sixth Place in Nielsen Ranking of Top 10 Local TV Markets

Nielsen is out with its annual rankings of the top local TV markets, reports TV Spy, which added that the biggest mover in the Top 10 “is the San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose market which drops from No. 6 to No. 8, a loss of -1.5 percent of TV homes vs. the 2016-17 season. New York City, the nation’s No. 1 market, lost -3.7 percent of TV homes, from 7.348 million last season, to 7.074 million this season. New York makes up about 6.3 percent of the entire U.S. TV universe, down from 6.4 percent last year.

“Elsewhere in the Top 10 Washington, D.C. moves up one spot, from No. 7 to No. 6. Houston moves from No. 8 to No. 7. Atlanta and Boston switch positions: this season Atlanta is No. 9 and Boston is No. 10.

“Overall there are 2.55 million fewer TV homes this season than last season. The 2016-17 season counted 114,695,130 TV homes nationally. This year the count is 112,143,960, down -2.2 percent. Last year’s total of 114.695 million homes was up .8 percent from 2016’s universe of 113.808 million.”