Dec 8 | By Brandon Jarman
For the second year in a row, VerizonSpecials.com conducted a study to determine which states watch the most TV. With streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu churning out hits, including The Witcher and Little Fires Everywhere respectively, there’s plenty of entertainment to go around.
So, where does your state fall on this year’s list? Set aside the TV guide and keep reading to find out.
Interesting Findings:
- Our data shows that US citizens overall watched 17 percent more TV than they did compared to last year’s report.
- Mississippi watched the most TV this year.
- Mississippi jumped viewership by 25 percent compared to last year’s report and dethroned last year’s winner West Virginia.
- Telenovelas, a popular type of serial drama or soap opera produced in Latin America, was the most popular TV genre for Florida, Texas, and California.
- For all fifty states including Washington, DC, sports was the most-searched TV genre.
- In our 2019 study, Utah watched the least TV, averaging two hours, thirteen minutes, and fifty-five seconds.
- In this year’s study, Alaska watched the least TV, at two hours, thirty-eight minutes and twenty-four seconds—which is quite a leap from fifth place compared to last year’s report.
- Rhode Island saw a 45 percent increase in TV watching this year, making a jump from fifteenth place to sixth place.
Top Ten States: Most-Watched TV
This year’s data showed a few notable shifts compared to last year’s report. First, we found that US citizens watched 17 percent more TV than they did last year. The top three states that watched the most TV also changed this year.
Last year West Virginia came in at number one, followed by Delaware and Louisiana. This year, Mississippi took the lead and only West Virginia remained in the top three. We also found that Sports took the top spot for the most popular TV genre, booting out last year’s top pick of Sitcom.
| State | Average Hr:Min:Sec | Favorite TV Genre | Rank |
| Mississippi | 4:22:48 | Sports | 1 |
| Arkansas | 4:20:24 | Sitcom | 2 |
| West Virginia | 4:18:36 | Sports | 3 |
| Alabama | 4:16:12 | Sports | 4 |
| Louisiana | 4:07:12 | Sports | 5 |
| Rhode Island | 4:02:24 | Reality TV | 6 |
| Kentucky | 3:52:48 | Sports | 7 |
| Nevada | 3:51:00 | Sports | 8 |
| Georgia | 3:49:48 | Stand-up comedy | 9 |
| Michigan | 3:46:12 | Sitcom | 10 |
Top Ten States: Least-Watched TV
This year’s data also showed a few notable shifts on our least-watched list. While Utah watched the least TV in the US last year, Alaska took the cake for watching the least TV this year. This year, Utah and Idaho were not far behind—both bringing a love of children’s shows with them.
Compared to last year’s report, only Utah stayed in a top-three spot while Vermont and Maine fell behind. Another notable shift is that while Alaska watched the least TV this year, its residents still watched twenty-five more minutes of TV than Utah did in the same spot in our previous report.
| State | Average Hr:Min:Sec | Favorite TV Genre | Rank |
| Alaska | 2:38:24 | Reality TV | 1 |
| Utah | 2:54:36 | Children’s TV series | 2 |
| Idaho | 3:05:24 | Children’s TV series | 3 |
| Minnesota | 3:06:00 | Sports | 4 |
| Washington | 3:09:36 | Stand-up comedy | 5 |
| New Mexico | 3:12:00 | Cartoons | 6 |
| California | 3:13:12 | Telenovela | 7 |
| Montana | 3:15:00 | News | 8 |
| Oregon | 3:15:00 | Cooking shows | 9 |
| Colorado | 3:16:48 | Reality TV | 10 |
TV Viewership in All Fifty States + Washington DC
| State | Average Hr:Min:Sec Watched in a Day | Most-Searched TV Genre | Rank |
| Alaska | 2:38:24 | Reality television | 1 |
| Utah | 2:54:36 | Children’s television series | 2 |
| Idaho | 3:05:24 | Children’s Television Series | 3 |
| Minnesota | 3:06:00 | ESPN | 4 |
| Washington | 3:09:36 | Stand-up Comedy | 5 |
| New Mexico | 3:12:00 | Cartoons | 6 |
| California | 3:13:12 | Telenovela | 7 |
| Oregon | 3:15:00 | Cooking Shows | 8 |
| Montana | 3:15:00 | News | 9 |
| Colorado | 3:16:48 | Reality television | 10 |
| Massachusetts | 3:18:36 | Stand-up Comedy | 11 |
| Connecticut | 3:20:24 | Reality television | 12 |
| Virginia | 3:24:36 | ESPN | 13 |
| Vermont | 3:25:12 | Late-night talk show | 14 |
| New York | 3:25:48 | Reality-Television | 15 |
| New Jersey | 3:25:48 | Reality television | 16 |
| Hawaii | 3:25:48 | ESPN | 17 |
| DC | #N/A | Documentary | 18 |
| Illinois | 3:28:12 | Sitcom | 19 |
| Oklahoma | 3:29:24 | Sitcom | 20 |
| Kansas | 3:29:24 | ESPN | 21 |
| Nebraska | 3:30:00 | ESPN | 22 |
| New Hampshire | 3:30:36 | Children’s Television Series | 23 |
| Iowa | 3:31:12 | ESPN | 24 |
| Wyoming | 3:31:48 | Cartoons | 25 |
| Maine | 3:31:48 | News | 26 |
| North Carolina | 3:33:00 | ESPN | 27 |
| Arizona | 3:33:00 | News | 28 |
| South Dakota | 3:34:12 | ESPN | 29 |
| North Dakota | 3:34:48 | Sitcom | 30 |
| Texas | 3:35:24 | Telenovela | 31 |
| Wisconsin | 3:36:36 | ESPN | 32 |
| Tennessee | 3:37:12 | Sitcom | 33 |
| South Carolina | 3:37:48 | ESPN | 34 |
| Pennsylvania | 3:37:48 | ESPN | 35 |
| Maryland | 3:39:00 | Reality television | 36 |
| Indiana | 3:39:00 | Sitcom | 37 |
| Ohio | 3:40:12 | ESPN | 38 |
| Florida | 3:40:12 | Telenovela | 39 |
| Delaware | 3:40:12 | ESPN | 40 |
| Missouri | 3:42:00 | Sitcom | 41 |
| Michigan | 3:46:12 | Sitcom | 42 |
| Georgia | 3:49:48 | Stand-up Comedy | 43 |
| Nevada | 3:51:00 | ESPN | 44 |
| Kentucky | 3:52:48 | ESPN | 45 |
| Rhode Island | 4:02:24 | Reality television | 46 |
| Louisiana | 4:07:12 | ESPN | 47 |
| Alabama | 4:16:12 | ESPN | 48 |
| West Virginia | 4:18:36 | ESPN | 49 |
| Arkansas | 4:20:24 | Sitcom | 50 |
| Mississippi | 4:22:48 | ESPN | 51 |
Methodology
The team at VerizonSpecials.com used “TV watch time data” from the most recent American Time Use Survey state-level estimates (2015–2019). We found each state’s favorite TV genre using the Google Trends data from January 2019 to December 2019. All fifty states plus the District of Columbia were included in the study. Puerto Rico was not included.
Who We Are
VerizonSpecials.com is an online authorized retailer of Verizon. Verizonspecials.com blog is for informational purposes and does not represent the views of Verizon.
Inquiries?
Reach out to media@verizon-business.com for any requests or for use of any graphics found within this report.