6 Studies suggest that higher rates of television viewing are correlated with increased tobacco usage, increased alcohol intake and younger onset of sexual activity. The elderly watch more television than any other age group. 8 People with low incomes watch more television than those with high incomes, and highly educated people watch less television than those with less formal education. 12 Children spend about 28 hours per week watching television. Over the course of a year, this is twice as much time as they spend in school.
Boys watch about one hour more per week than do girls.
14 Girls 11 to 19 watch MTV more than any other network. 15 Teenagers 13 to 17 spend an average of 4 weekday hours watching television. The average child views 30,000 commercials each year. Before age 18, the average child will witness over 200,000 acts of violence on television, including 16,000 murders. 25 Moviegoers ages 40 and older represent nearly one third of the audience.