Every week, 550,788 Wilmington, Delaware area consumers watch something on TV.

Not too many years ago, when a Wilmington consumer sat down to watch TV, the program options were limited to what was on Philadelphia stations like WDPN, WPPX, KYW, WCAU, WHYY, or, maybe, what was on a handful of cable channels.  That was then. This is now.

Today, according to Nielsen, each time a TV is turned on in a Wilmington living room, the viewer has more than 817,000 options not only from broadcast stations and cable systems, but also from streaming video platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Peacock, YouTube, Amazon, Tubi, Crackle, and FreeVee.

Of course, Wilmington consumers don't even need to sit down in front of their big-screen LCD, anymore. Most of the 817,000 available programs can also be viewed on their computers, tablets, gaming devices, and smartphones. But as far as viewers are concerned, though, it's all just television.

Every week, 397,000 Wilmington, Delaware area adults watch video programs delivered via the internet. This content goes by several interchangeable names, including OTT (Over-The-Top Television), CTV (Connected TV), and Streaming Video. For this article, we will refer to this type of content as Streaming TV.

Unlike traditional TV, cable, and satellite where the viewer needs to be in a fixed location, Tri-state consumers can access streaming TV anywhere using an internet-connected device. These include SmartTVs, Firesticks, Roku, smartphones, computers, laptops, tablets, and gaming consoles.

In all, according to Nielsen, 95.0% of Wilmington households have one or more devices capable of connecting to streaming TV. Although this medium is still new, streaming TV now rivals legacy media in its ability to reach local consumers.

Every week, Wilmington consumers are spending more-and-more time engaged with streaming TV.

It used to be, when a small business owner wanted to advertise on television in Wilmington, the only option was to advertise on Philadelphia stations like WDPN, WPPX, KYW, WCAU, and WHYY. But slowly, the number of options has expanded to include cable channels provided by Xfinity, DISH, DirecTV, and Verizon FIOS.

Heading in 2022, local advertisers have even more options as internet-connected devices deliver hundreds of more programming choices to Deleware consumers. Collectively, this type of content is called OTT (Over-The-Top-Television) or CTV (Connected-Television). For the purpose of this discussion, OTT & CTV will be referred to singularly as streaming video.

Streaming video can be viewed on any device that can connect to the internet. This includes computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Programing can also be accessed using a smart-TV, Roku Stick, Amazon Fire Stick, or a game console. In all, according to Nielsen, 95.1% of Wilmington households own a device capable of receiving streaming video.

In all, says Nielsen, 379,077 Wilmington consumers watch streaming video content every week. Combined, these internet channels now reach more adults every week than local newspapers, podcasts, and digital audio services like Pandora, Spotify, Sirius/XM. Amazon Music, and iHeart Radio.

Surprisingly, streaming video now reaches almost as many Wilmington adults as local TV and local cable.