American television viewers have more channels to view than ever
before, but that does not mean they are watching them.  Here are
some of the stats.

The
Nielsen numbers show that the average US household received 96.4
television channels in 2005. Rising from 92.6 in 2004 that represents
an increase of roughly four channels in a year. But the average number
of channels the households tuned in to was nearly steady, rising to
only 15.4 in 2005 from 15.0 the year before.

As Joe Mandese wrote in MediaDailyNews, "Given an unlimited number of media options, the average person will still opt to use a relatively small number."

At a time when Americans are spending more time watching TV than
ever — in 2005 the average US household watched 57 hours and 17 minutes
of television a week, versus 56 hours and seven minutes a week in 2004
and 43 hours and 42 minutes a week in 1975 — they are turning away from
broadcast channels and spending more time with cable and satellite
channels.

More here.