TV VIEWING ROSE A BIT IN 1985
Televisions were on an average 7 hours, 10 minutes a day in American households last year, according to the Television Bureau of Advertising.
The two-minute increase in viewing for 1985 over 1984 marked the smallest in a decade, the bureau said. Total viewing had been increasing annually by at least three minutes a year since 1977, when viewing dropped by eight minutes to 6 hours, 10 minutes.
The first half of 1985 was marked by gains by cable television and a loss by free over-the-air television. But in the fourth quarter, free TV, including the network stations at ABC, CBS and NBC, showed viewer increases.
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