The Decline of TV... Again

Heard the news about the death of television? There was a recent Business Insider article you might have seen, titled TV Is Dying, And Here Are The Stats That Prove It"TV Is Dying, And Here Are The Stats That Prove It. it features a lot of colorful graphs showing the contraction of the broadcast and cable viewing audiences as more and more people move to online video content.

There's not much I can really add to this, since this is very much a story in progress, and I'm pretty woefully out of the loop. However, I thought I could offer a point of comparison. A few days ago I was reading through the blog wrote prior to Miss Media Junkie, and happened upon an entry talking about the state of the television landscape, written when I still had a cable subscription. I posted it online almost ten years ago to date. You'll notice that some things have changed, notably the increased presence of the internet, but many of the problems that are plaguing TV today were around long before cord-cutters and the rise of mobile content.

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"I thought to myself that I hadn't really said much about television, which I have strong opinions about, and at least as much interest in as I have in the cinema. The problem is, I really don't watch much of it any more. I like "Malcolm in the Middle" and "Frasier" and "That 70s Show," but I only watch them sporadically. I keep meaning to watch "The West Wing" and "Alias" and "ER," but I just can't work up the enthusiasm to do it. The only two prime time shows I actively keep up with on a regular basis anymore are "Will and Grace," and "Angel," the latter mostly because I've invested nearly a decade in the Buffy-verse and they finally dropped the most pointless characters. "Friends," which used to be one of my favorites, wore out its welcome about two years ago, and I've been silently praying for its demise ever since.

"I do make a point to watch the PBS broadcast of the "BBC World News" whenever possible, and I'm addicted to "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" on Comedy Central. I'd probably cancel my cable entirely if it weren't for Mr. Stewart. The only cable channels I actually watch are Comedy Central, Bravo, TCM, and the Cartoon Network. Everything else is essentially just like having a few dozen more network channels, plus scores of special interest stations that don't really seem to be of interest to anybody. Watching AMC and Sci-Fi slowly sell their souls to the mainstream was a painful experience. Cable didn't use to be like this. I remember back in the 80s, when the only commercials were between shows, and editing was rare.

"There have been a series of articles lately, remarking on the decline in network viewership during the Fall season. Blame has fallen on everything from programming quality to measurement error to growing competition. The resulting panic, however, has caused cancellations left and right as the networks try to regroup. CBS, of all networks, has come out on top for the time being - probably due to its conservative bent and older, more loyal audience than anything else. NBC and FOX, two networks that have thrown themselves wholeheartedly at hipper, younger consumers for years, seem to be faring the worst.

"So what do I make of the situation? I'm putting the bulk of the blame on competition. Though I haven't seen most of the shows being talked about, I doubt any of the new dreck was any worse than than it has been in years past. The difference is that people have stopped differentiating between network and cable nearly as much as they used to, and they're orienting themselves towards shows over lineups. I think people finally figured out "Must-See TV" doesn't take three hours to watch. Add the growing technological advances like Tivo and their ilk, and you've got viewers who expect more out of their programming, who aren't willing to sit through mediocre filler anymore. And I think that's a good thing.

"There's a certain fluidity of media that's happening these days, where people are often renting their favorite television shows instead of tuning in them. I go to the video store and see stacks of "24" and "Oz" and "Sopranos" DVDs getting plenty of attention. The tube, as a whole, has somehow gotten much less important in recent years. I can remember back to when the premiere of a movie on network television was a highly trumpeted event, and it always came at least four years after the movie had left theaters. These days, the big event movies garner little to no interest, unless they're produced for television, and will hit the airwaves in as little as two years after release. The upswing in popular R-rated movies and increased ad time have required far more editing and cutting than in years past. I remember shaking my head through a butchered airing of "Interview With the Vampire" on NBC a few years back, and reading about how "television versions" of certain scenes of feature movies were now being shot in anticipation of these problems. That's another thing the networks are worried about - they've gotten too "clean" for popular culture."