Television Viewership is Way Down...

Source

Not surprising in the least. It is, however, a reflection of an industry that is slow to adapt to change and is suffering as a result. It's not an easy task, by any means, but at least recognize that you have a problem (a knock against Nielsen)...

Well, I inherited a new TV from my grandmother, and unlike the crappy old one I've been using, I can actually turn this one off.

And man, I've been keeping it off.

TV sucks. I don't do reality and 24 has sort of lost me this year... Hoo boy... did somebody say "LOST?"


... Don't get me started....

Good. TV is an inferior artform, and becoming increasingly trashy.

Well here's the thing. For purposes of ads and DVR... DVR shouldn't count.

When you DVR a show you don't watch the ads - unless incapable of fastforwarding. Thus, if you try to determine ad share you need to do it on the basis of first run - unrecorded TV.

I don't watch the ads when I watch a TV show live. But Nielsen Media Research has recently started to incorporate DVR/timeshifted viewings into their statistics. House and The Office are apparently the most watched TV shows they day after they air.

One of the biggest factors in declining viewers is networks green lighting crappy shows, often of the reality type. Reality shows are especially cheap to make, so low ratings aren't that bad of a deal (unless they're REALLY low). Networks seem not to be willing to take a chance on most TV shows. For example, both Cheers and Seinfeld would have probably been canceled in their first season if they premiered this year.

Viewers are also pissed off that networks cancel a show after only a few episodes, and are thus less willing to invest time in a new show because the odds are it will also be canceled.

Also, when they have a show run from 9-10:05 and call it "extended" but really just add five more minutes of commercials, that's really stupid. It also messes up my DVR scheduling.

There's a certain amount of truth in that. Take MASH for instance. That show's first season's ratings were dismal, but it caught on during summer reruns and wound up running for 11 seasons.

Today, it would be cancelled right out of the gate.

The people who run TV are like the people who run the music industry - short sighted, unimaginative, small-minded and incestuous idiots. Television advertising basically hasn't worked since the VCR and remote control came into general use and the powers-that-be didn't notice.

What we're approaching now is menu-driven cafeteria-style television. You'll receive only the shows you want, when you want them, and be able to play them on a variety of different systems - everything from PDAs or video iPods right up to ginormous flat-screen HDTVs. Personally, I think that means that a lot of quirky little shows that a conventional network would never even give a chance will now find an audience. It'll be like direct-to-dvd only better, since there'll be no production costs past making the show itself, what with digital distribution and all.

I blame prime-time game shows. Who the fuck wants to watch that shit? Prime time is for scripted dramas and sitcoms, dammit. Put Idol and 5th Grader on during the daytime where they belong!

And bring back "What's My Line?".

Richard Simmons- Oh, do you make flaaavored condoms?

lesbian orgies = ratings

What good is it if people watch lesbian orgies but don't watch the ads? Advertisers won't pay for a show that is 100% DVR'd.

And that's the problem. If DVR goes up too high then the ad agencies are less likely to want to buy ad time. Or if they do at a reduced price, which reduces the profit the company pulls in which means less shows can be afforded. Which means the end of television as we know it.

^ Fewer shows, or cheaper shows. Or both.

Product placement, done right, helps a lot. It could even eventually get rid of commercials entirely.

For instance, The Office has product placement in every episode (their HP monitors). The even incorporated a Staples shredder into an episode and made it funny.

24, SNL, 30 Rock, and lots of other shows are doing this more and more with the viewers barely noticing.

The 24 Cisco Systems update.

"Jack, I can't hear you too well. Call me back on your Sprint phone. It gets great reception, even underground."

Oh, sure. You say that NOW. You'll be singing a different tune when my prime-time "I Can Fight a Dozen Midgets" premieres (with host, Richard Moll).

Ah, but if the viewers barely notice, the advertising isn't working. The point of an ad is to MAKE a consumer notice a product.

You mean to tell me that you don't notice Jack's Sprint Phone in 24 of the Ford Expeditions they drive across LA in to fight terrorist?

I'd like to see advertising done more in the product placement scheme than in breaks. Once TVs and computers become more integrated, a small pop-up like the ones in the corner of a screen that advertises the channel will say 'if you'd like to know more about XYZ, click here' and the ad will run.

I still watch as much TV as I ever did. Maybe more. But I no longer adjust any of my plans around some fucking network's broadcast schedule. Sometimes a week might pass before I get around to watching something. Or maybe I'll delete it without watching at all.

And I take special delight in fast-forwarding through all the ads. Never run into any problems with that, either. No commercials I'm blocked from skipping or anything. Don't feel the least bit guilty about it. I figure my ridiculous fucking cable bill should be enough to satisfy any obligation I have towards anyone's pocketbook.

Well, I think in product placement can be more subliminal...

I pulled cable three years ago...only watch about two hours a week on what's left, unless PBS has some good stuff...rare.

Got tired of paying $40+ a month for crap...and revolving my day around what was on.

DVR, man! DVR!

I collect so many decent shows, I don't have the time to watch them all.

I only need a player...there just aren't that many shows i would record and keep...I use my VCRs primarily to tape stuff to watch later.

My main set in the living room is used maybe every two weeks.

maybe because their hasnt been a great comedy on since Cheers.
24 is good but I can never remember to watch it regularly but other than that my box dont go on unless there is severe weather or theres a Sox game on.
And Im so old I can remember when MTV actually showed.........music videos..imagine that children,, aTV station named Music Television actually showing music.

Yeah, I remember when MTV's main fare was music. Just like today, most of it sucked ass, so I wouldn't go so far as to think of them as "glory days."

didnt say they were glory days but what does that tell about today's music when MTV wont show it?

Music vids peaked in the 80s...they've been crap ever since.

When you can find 'em.

I only have the very basic cable, not a whole lot of channels, but it suits me.
And even then I don't watch that much network television. I have netflix and watch what I want, when I want, and it's commercial free.

They should bring Paul Lynde back from the dead some how. He was the most beloved gay man in history.