So many Americans consume content seemingly non-stop, and that can’t be healthy. But even though there are seemingly endless channels in this decentralized, long-tail world, most of them–at least the TV ones–go largely unwatched. From Brian R. Fitzgerald at WSJ:

“The data, provided by Nielsen and charted by Statista, show that people have more channels at their disposal today than ever. In 2013, there were an average 189 channels available to U.S. households, up from 179 the year before.

Still, the households viewed on average somewhere between 17 and 18 channels — and that was down slightly from the year before. In fact, the number of channels viewed plateaued at about 17 in 2008.

The Nielsen data is grist for opponents of cable-channel ‘bundling,’ who argue people end up paying for channels they don’t want. And it spotlights the challenges that advertisers face in an increasingly fragmented media world.”