(MediaBuyerPlanner) During the average week, about 43.7 million Americans over the age of 18 - approximately 20 percent of the nation's adult population - watched TV in unmeasured, out of home locations, according to a Fall 2005 survey, Total TV Audience Monitor, released yesterday, MediaPost writes.

"Adult viewers watching TV outside the home average 9.5 hours of [out-of- home] viewing per week, an increase from 7.3 [hours] in 2004 and 6.5 hours in 2003," said the company, adding, "The largest segment of the [out-of- home] audience comes from college locations. More than 11 million college students are watching [out-of-home] and averaging 12.5 hours of [out-of- home] TV viewing per week."

Advertisers and agencies appreciate the added viewing estimates, but take caution when incorporating viewing in some out-of-home locations - including bars, restaurants and hotels - fearing the possibility of inflating TV ratings and the nature of viewing in such locations.

In addition to TV reaching more viewers out of the house, new out-of-home media have emerged as consumers have increased their time away from home, now spending 18 percent of the day away from home and work environments - a figure up from only 8 percent in the 1960s.