More People Turning Out Traditional Television [AUDIO]

The so-called, "zero TV" crowd is growing in size.

In fact, there are 5 million American households right now who are divorced from the tube.

That number has increased from 2 million households six years ago. Rutgers communications expert Steve Miller says many are under 25s, who are tired of paying $100-plus monthly or timing their lives to a network schedule. He says these broadcasters and companies will now have to figure out new ways to deliver their service to the public.

"And it's not just in cable, it's not just in satellite, it's in all sorts of various media.

Miller says web-enabled laptops and smart phones are being used more and more for TV viewing, in place of more traditional TV receivers hooked up to cable or satellite service.

Recapturing the "no TV" crowd was a hot topic this month at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas.

"Getting broadcast programing on all the gizmos and gadgets -- like tablets, the backseats of cars, and laptops -- is hugely important," says NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton.

For the first time, TV ratings giant Nielsen took a close look at this category of viewer in its quarterly video report released in March. It plans to measure their viewing of new TV shows starting this fall, with an eye toward incorporating the results in the formula used to calculate ad rates.