Homes Using Television (HUT) is a term related to television ratings. It is mainly used in Market Research, Media Planning and Buying, etc. The term or acronym HUT 'Households Using Television' was formerly used by Nielsen Media Research to define the number of television homes using one or more television sets during the a specified time period.
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For instance, it is used to calculate the average viewers watching the television for average minute in 15 minute time period or during the average minute of a specific program.
How to Calculate HUT
HUT is the percentage of all TV households watching television at any given time. It is different from Rating as it calculates the complete viewing pattern rather than being program specific.
Formulae
- HUT x Share = Rating (HH)
- Rating (HH) / HUT = Share
- Rating (HH) / Share = HUT
For example, if there are 1000 television households in a particular survey area and 500 of those televisions are turned on in a given time period, the HUT level for that area in that time period is 50. The HUT level can be figured as an overall number for the entire United States (a figure used for network programs) or for a local market, as in the case of local programming.
A program's share of the audience is calculated on the basis of the HUT level. If a program carried a 20 share, that means that 20% of all households using television had their televisions tuned to that program.
However, the sum of the average ratings for a given time-period may be higher than the HUT because of viewing in multiple set TV households. If a household is watching two programs, it is counted toward each program rating, but only once toward HUT.
Example: HUT % = HH Rating% / Share%
60.6% = (26.2 / 43.2) x 100
HUT % = # HH with TV sets on (OOO) / Total HH Universe (OOO)
61.2% = (64,596,000 / 105,500,000) x 100