Only 42% of Americans consider the television set to be a necessity
According to a new survey from the Pew Research Center's Social and Demographic Trends project, only 42% of Americans consider the television set to be a necessity.
By comparison, this figure was 52% last year, and 64% in 2006.
However, the survey also found that 10% of the public believe a flat-screen television is a necessity - up from 5% in 2006.
According to industry reports, Americans have bought over 100 million flat-screen television since 2005.
Additionally, more Americans than ever now own a television set. According to a Nielsen report, the average American home had 2.86 television sets.
In 1990 it was 2.0, and in 1975 it was 1.57.
The same survey found that 62% of Americans say that the landline telephone is a neccesity.
By comparison, 68% said this last year.
Also, 47% of respondents said that a mobile phone is a necessity of life.
This results are reflected in the marketplace as, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of government data, 74% of U.S. households now have a landline phone.
This is down from a peak of 97% in 2001.
During this same time period, use of mobile phones has increased significantly.
82% of adults now use cell phones - up from 53% who used them in 2000.
The US now has more mobile phones than landline phones.
Fewer than half of respondents aged 18 to 29 said that the landline phone was a necessity, and less than three in ten said a television set was a necessity.
