Free At Last
Few Viewers and Network Executives Scratch Their Heads:
"Network executives are baffled by a season unlike any seen before.
Returning hit shows like 'Friends' and 'E.R.' are losing significant numbers of viewers from previous years. New shows have performed far worse than almost anyone expected, a result capped off Monday night when the Fox network started two shows that had received huge promotional pushes during the baseball playoffs, 'The Next Joe Millionaire' and 'Skin,' and they posted crushingly disappointing numbers. And men between 18 and 24 are apparently deserting television in droves. So far this year nearly 20 percent fewer men in that advertiser-friendly demographic are watching television during prime time than during the same period last year.
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The drop-off in these viewing figures tabulated by Nielsen Media Research is inexplicable to industry executives. 'Frankly what we're seeing strains credulity,' said Alan Wurtzel, the president of research for NBC."
It seems like the viewing public is finally coming to its senses. Television has thought that our entire lives revolved around the doctors of ER or whether or not Ross and Rachel were ever going to get it together. For the most part, we obliged. Perhaps we're finally seeing a trend away from the boob tube.
The trend can be explained in a number of different ways. First of all, we have more entertainment choices a our fingertips. With over 500 channels in some areas have made our options so numerous that many struggle to find time in their schedule for all of the shows or movies they want to watch. I, myself, am addicted to the History Channel. I can't shut it off.
Just when I think I'm done with it something even more interesting comes along. I gotta tell you, Attila the Hun is much more interesting then Survivor.
The advent of the internet hasn't helped either. Just about the entire nation is online now. People can now publish their own websites or play video games with friends in Vietnam. The internet is now an entertainment medium to be reckoned with.
Even reading is making a comeback. Between Opera's Book Club getting people to read again and online stores like Amazon and Barnes and Noble making just about every book ever published available in every backwater in America people are once again discovering the joys of the written word.
Personally, I couldn't be more happy then to see television fail for a while. They've gotten lazy in the past couple of decades. Every year they try to shove a new group of sitcoms down our throats. These shows are based on the same formulas they've been using since the 70's. You'd think they could come up with something new. The latest, greatest invention on television is so-called "reality" television and America is even getting tired of that. We become more jaded with every new-show announcement.
Television will rebound, of course. Perhaps this downtrend will get them off their arses and force them to make some shows worth watching.
"Network executives are baffled by a season unlike any seen before.
Returning hit shows like 'Friends' and 'E.R.' are losing significant numbers of viewers from previous years. New shows have performed far worse than almost anyone expected, a result capped off Monday night when the Fox network started two shows that had received huge promotional pushes during the baseball playoffs, 'The Next Joe Millionaire' and 'Skin,' and they posted crushingly disappointing numbers. And men between 18 and 24 are apparently deserting television in droves. So far this year nearly 20 percent fewer men in that advertiser-friendly demographic are watching television during prime time than during the same period last year.Advertisement
The drop-off in these viewing figures tabulated by Nielsen Media Research is inexplicable to industry executives. 'Frankly what we're seeing strains credulity,' said Alan Wurtzel, the president of research for NBC."
It seems like the viewing public is finally coming to its senses. Television has thought that our entire lives revolved around the doctors of ER or whether or not Ross and Rachel were ever going to get it together. For the most part, we obliged. Perhaps we're finally seeing a trend away from the boob tube.
The trend can be explained in a number of different ways. First of all, we have more entertainment choices a our fingertips. With over 500 channels in some areas have made our options so numerous that many struggle to find time in their schedule for all of the shows or movies they want to watch. I, myself, am addicted to the History Channel. I can't shut it off.
Just when I think I'm done with it something even more interesting comes along. I gotta tell you, Attila the Hun is much more interesting then Survivor.The advent of the internet hasn't helped either. Just about the entire nation is online now. People can now publish their own websites or play video games with friends in Vietnam. The internet is now an entertainment medium to be reckoned with.
Even reading is making a comeback. Between Opera's Book Club getting people to read again and online stores like Amazon and Barnes and Noble making just about every book ever published available in every backwater in America people are once again discovering the joys of the written word.
Personally, I couldn't be more happy then to see television fail for a while. They've gotten lazy in the past couple of decades. Every year they try to shove a new group of sitcoms down our throats. These shows are based on the same formulas they've been using since the 70's. You'd think they could come up with something new. The latest, greatest invention on television is so-called "reality" television and America is even getting tired of that. We become more jaded with every new-show announcement.
Television will rebound, of course. Perhaps this downtrend will get them off their arses and force them to make some shows worth watching.
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