Television is one of the major mass media of the United States. As of
2011[update], household ownership of television sets in the country is
96.7%, with approximately 114,200,000 American households owning at
least one television set as of August 2013. The majority of households
have more than one set. The peak ownership percentage of households
with at least one television set occurred during the 1996â€"97 season,
with 98.4% ownership.Television is one of the major mass media of the
United States. As of 2011[update], household ownership of television
sets in the country is 96.7%, with approximately 114,200,000 American
households owning at least one television set as of August 2013. The
majority of households have more than one set. The peak ownership
percentage of households with at least one television set occurred
during the 1996â€"97 season, with 98.4% ownership.As a whole, the
television networks that broadcast in the United States are the
largest and most distributed in the world, and programs produced
specifically for U.S.-based networks are the most widely syndicated
internationally. Due to a recent surge in the number and popularity of
critically acclaimed television series during the 2000s and the 2010s
to date, many critics have said that American television is currently
undergoing a modern golden age.In the United States, television is
available via broadcast (also known as "over-the-air" or OTA) â€" the
earliest method of receiving television programming, which merely
requires an antenna and an equipped internal or external tuner capable
of picking up channels that transmit on the two principal broadcast
bands, very high frequency (VHF) and ultra high frequency (UHF), in
order to receive the signal â€" and four conventional types of
multichannel subscription television: cable, unencrypted satellite
("free-to-air"), direct-broadcast satellite television and IPTV
(internet protocol television). There are also competing video
services on the World Wide Web, which have become an increasingly
popular mode of television viewing since the late 2000s, particularly
with younger audiences as an alternative or a supplement to the
aforementioned traditional forms of viewing television content; the
2010s saw the development of several virtual MVPD services offering
"skinny" tiers of channels originally developed for cable and
satellite distribution at a reduced base price compared to providers
utilizing the more established pay television distribution methods. Television in the United States Top Movies & Young Movies