Television

Nielsen Media Research recently announced that during the 2004-05 season, the average American household watched TV an average of 8 hours, 11 minutes per day.

Per day! Average! Arghh! I can’t stand it. I’m stunned. If you don’t believe it, the press release is available here:

http://www.nielsenmedia.com/newsreleases/2005/AvgHoursMinutes92905.pdf

In a related statistic, Nielsen reports that the average American household receives 100 channels of TV programming.

On a completely unrelated topic, I’m searching for a study that would explain the mysterious root cause behind the following maladies plaguing Americans:

• Decline in physical fitness, increase in obesity
• Decline in student achievement, particularly in math and science
• General “lack of available time” to:
• Focus on relationships
• Spend time with God

If somebody could identify the root cause, they would really be on to something.