TV Takes It in the Ass

[Guest]

I don't know about the rest of u folks but basically the only live tv i watch is sporting events...i really dislike most tv shows and the ones i do enjoy watching i would rather tivo and watch later without interruption by commercials at some weird time like when i can't sleep or something...i take pride in the fact i have never watched an episode of survivor, lost or american idol...i don't even like seinfeld, lol...anyway i really enjoyed reading this article on cnn.com so i thought i would share it and see if any other tv haters are out there (i know there's a bunch)...do u love tivo? love to mute those stupid ass commercials they repeat every 15 minutes? does oprah make u want to throw up all over? let's hear it!

TV Viewership Drops Precipitously

Where have all the viewers gone?


NEW YORK (AP) -- Maybe they're outside in the garden. They could be playing softball. Or perhaps they're just plain bored.

In TV's worst spring in recent memory, a startling number of Americans drifted away from television the past two months: More than 2.5 million fewer people were watching ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox than at the same time last year, statistics show.

Everyone has a theory to explain the plummeting ratings: early Daylight Savings Time, more reruns, bad shows, more shows being recorded or downloaded or streamed.

Scariest of all for the networks, however, is the idea that many people are now making their own television schedules. The industry isn't fully equipped to keep track of them, and as a result the networks are scrambling to hold on to the nearly $8.8 billion they collected during last spring's ad-buying season.

"This may be the spring where we see a radical shift in the way the culture thinks of watching TV," said Sarah Bunting, co-founder of the Web site Television Without Pity.

The viewer plunge couldn't have come at a worse time for the networks -- next week they will showcase their fall schedules to advertisers in the annual "up front" presentations.

The networks argue that viewership is changing, not necessarily declining. Some advertisers respond that they are no longer willing to pay full price up front to reach viewers that may not tune in later.

This fall, both sides will be watching what happens with families like Tony Cort's. During prime-time, Cort, his wife and four kids tend to scatter to computers or other activities in different parts of their New Jersey home. (Not during "American Idol" or "Lost," though.) They're definitely watching less TV, said Cort, who runs a Web site for martial arts aficionados.

"I remember when '24' was on, that was something there was a lot of interest and excitement about," he said.

News flash: "24" is still on. Its ratings are down, too, amid a critically savaged season.

More bad news abounds. NBC set a record last month for its least-watched week during the past 20 years, and maybe ever -- then broke it a week later. This is the least popular season ever for CBS' "Survivor." ABC's "Lost" has lost nearly half its live audience -- more than 10 million people -- from the days it was a sensation. "The Sopranos" (a show that has earned broadcast-network-like ratings in the past) is ending on HBO, and the response is a collective yawn.

Events like "American Idol" on Fox (which is owned by News Corp.) and "Dancing With the Stars" on ABC (owned by The Walt Disney Co.) are doing the most to prop up the industry. But still, in the six weeks after Daylight Savings Time started in early March, prime-time viewership for the four biggest broadcast networks was down to 37.6 million people, from 40.3 million during the same period in 2006, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Missing money

Millions of missing viewers could translate into millions of missing dollars for the networks heading into the up-front sales season.

Advertisers don't believe that the drop in viewership is as dramatic as the numbers suggest, but they're no longer willing to spend what they once did in the spring market, said Brad Adgate of Horizon Media, an ad buying firm. Johnson & Johnson and Coca-Cola sat out the spring market last year -- betting they could get lower prices later -- and it's likely other companies will do the same this year, he said.

The early start to Daylight Savings Time has hurt ratings. Prime-time viewership traditionally dips then as people do more things outside, and this year folks had a three-week head start to get into the habit of doing something else. More network reruns during March and April dampened interest, too.

"We let them get out of the habit of watching television a little bit, and it's going to take some time to get these people back in front of their television sets," said David Poltrack, chief researcher for CBS (owned by CBS Corp.).

Strategic decisions to send some popular serial dramas on long hiatuses appeared to backfire. NBC's "Heroes," CBS' "Jericho" and "Lost" lost significant momentum when they returned. Besides HBO's "The Sopranos," there are no lengthy countdowns toward the end of very popular series, unless you count "The King of Queens."

There also are technical reasons that this apparent diminished interest in television may be overstated.

This year, for the first time, Nielsen is measuring viewership in the estimated 17 percent of homes with digital video recorders _ but it only counts them in the ratings of a specific show if they watch it within 24 hours of the original air time.

If you recorded "Desperate Housewives" this spring and watched it two days later, you're not counted in the show's ratings. And you're not counted by Nielsen under any circumstances if you downloaded a show on iTunes and watched it on your iPod or cell phone, or streamed an episode from a network Web site.

Since last year's Nielsen sample contained no DVR homes and this year's sample does, logic dictates that fewer Nielsen families are watching TV live this year, deflating ratings.

"People are not consuming less television, they're watching it in different ways, and the measurements haven't caught up," said Alan Wurtzel, chief research executive at NBC (owned by General Electric Co.).

The numbers can be significant. When "The Office" aired on NBC on April 5, Nielsen said there were 5.8 million people watching. Add in the people who recorded the episode and watched it within the next week, and viewership swelled to 7.6 million, a 32 percent increase, Nielsen said.

"The Sopranos" is another interesting case study. For its first four episodes this season, the show averaged 7.4 million viewers for its weekly Sunday night premiere, down from 8.9 million at the same point its last season.

But HBO shows each new episode eight times a week. Between the multiple plays and DVR viewing, each episode this spring gets 11.1 million viewers, down from 13 million last year. And these figures don't count people who watch on demand.

Numbers for "The Sopranos" may be down because people can watch whenever they want. They may not be as interested in the show as they used to be -- or it could be a combination of both.

Television has made billions based on how many people watch a show at its regular time. That idea may already be obsolete. So should the industry use DVR viewing when setting ad rates? If so, how quickly must people watch the shows -- within two days? A week? What about people who watch shows on their cell phones or on network Web sites, which Nielsen doesn't measure yet? Later this month Nielsen will begin measuring how many people watch commercials. Should those be used to compute advertising costs?

Right now, none of those questions have answers.

However, "if we continue to do business assuming people will watch television as they always have," said NBC's Wurtzel, "it's a dead-end game."

Good stuff...

Peace

 

[daisy jane]

I watch the Natinoal Geogrpahic channel a lot. Same goes for the Discovery channel. I'll watch TV if it involves animals or nature. Other than that I could care less. Although I do like Seinfeld, always have; I grew up on it. I don't have a "tivo" but I hear a lot about it. What does it do, record your TV show so you can watch it later without commercials??

 

[Mr. Nevermind]

I watch the Natinoal Geogrpahic channel a lot. Same goes for the Discovery channel. I'll watch TV if it involves animals or nature. Other than that I could care less. Although I do like Seinfeld, always have; I grew up on it. I don't have a "tivo" but I hear a lot about it. What does it do, record your TV show so you can watch it later without commercials??

Yes tivo allows you to record telavision shows and play them back whenever you want without commercials. they can be programmed to record all your favorite shows and even make recommendations to you with similiar shows to the ones you record.


As far as TV watching goes. I have the news on during the day ( CNBC & MSNBC) to get business news and i guess to watch the joke we call Politics. But i understand why people are watching lesss and less TV, its rubbish!!

Most shows are "reality " Shows which suck. I mean American Idol is basically taping an A & R's job from a record label and making it so he cant make the decisions he gets paid to do, the audience pays to do his job for them which is a joke , but genius. I dotn think i ever watched American Idol due to that reason, you want me to do an A & R's job for him then pay me for it.

MTV when i was a kid in the 80's ( i had to call my calbe company and say i want my MTV!!) would play music vidoes, now they play hours of reality shows and the same 5 videos. VH1 is more than happy to have reality shows with the tackiest women and men i have ever seen. that New York chic and Flavor flav made VH1 the biggest joke.

Its all rubbish now, only shows i can stomach are Real time with bill maher, Lost ( but i am starting to hate that show) and football ( soccer for us Yanks) . the rest is all trash.

Look TV is around for one reason and one reason alone. To sell ad space and make you buy shit you dont need. Any TV exec's job is to sell ad space. Only reason they hope for a good show is so that they can sell 30 second blocks between the show for millions. past that there is really no good reason to watch TV other than the news which is a joke now. News used to be reporting of facts, now its a matter of opinon.





nevermind

 

[genkisan]

I watch NO TV, recorded or otherwise.


I have no interest in a medium whose sole reasons for existing are to sell me shit, make parasitic rich people richer and make the general populace into brainless, complacent manipulable consumer/employees.


I wanna learn something, I'll read a book, thanks....not the 30 minute version dumbed down for the lowest common denominator and cut into 8-12 minute segments.


Read Jerry Mander's book "Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television" for an expert (and inside) view on the extreme evil of the TV medium, and it's irredeemable qualities..

 

[daisy jane]

Hmm record and play back with no commercials? How much did that cost ya Nug? Just messing with ya buddy. But I don't think I could ever pay extra just to avoid commercials. Besdies, when a commercial comes on it gives you ample opportunity to break up for another bowl.

 

[HappyHemphog]

The TV Networks are seeing the same results the music industry has been seeing.

The problem is they push what they think we want based on the ability to make money not entertain the consumer. They are more worried about whether a new show will get advertising instead of worried about getting viewers. It used to be that the popular shows attracted the good sponsors, but today the sponsors attract the shows.

If these industries keep pushing these scripted "reality" shows, lame ass "game" and "contest" shows, they will continue their downward spiral. The ultimate and perfect example of the problem, American Idol, shows what's wrong with both TV and the Music industries. What qualifies these three people to say who American's should "idolize"? Stop trying to tell people what they want and give them what they ask for.

Unfortunately, it appears they are asking to be sheeple.

Hempy

 

[Neuronaut]

HEROES!

 

[sackoweed]

just the other day on tv i learned to tie my shoes and im 96 years old.. nice
ohh, and i saw some boobies I think they were vicky valencourts from the waterboy..
ohh, and dick clark is not the devil momma.. peace..

sack

 

[fr33th3w33d]

theres nothing new.. its still goddamn reality TV or old shows.. american idol, dancing shows, survivor, lost, 24.. all past the primes they never really deserved (other than 24)..

they need more shows like I Love New York. crackheads in a mansion trying to date a half retarted black chick.. what more could you want?

 

[Guest]

hey daisy i didn't even have to buy a tivo actually, my comcast box comes with a built in dvr...so i guess its free...

i like bill maher's show too although i think he is a little weasel sometimes...i love how he makes the plug for legalized prostitution every chance he gets, amen...the last one with sean penn and garry shandling was a riot but i thought that harold ford jr came off as kind of lame-o (i know he's a politician but that guy doesn't have much personality)

nevermind i would recommend bloomberg tv as a vastly superior source of financial news to cnbc, if that's what you're looking for...those anchors are all just a bunch of market cheerleaders and have no clue what is going on...erin burnett is definitely easy on the eyes but i like watching her much better with the sound off...i do like ripping on sue herrera, and again that's something that can be done with the sound off...i also suspect that you could fit one of those toy chihuahas in the bags underneath maria bartiromo's eyes but i could be wrong...lol...

 

[daisy jane]

Well damn Nug, if it is free then that sounds like a pretty sweet deal!

 

[killa-bud]

yea dvr is sick,pause live tv and all types of ill shit!


uhh,right

 

[Mr. Nevermind]

hey daisy i didn't even have to buy a tivo actually, my comcast box comes with a built in dvr...so i guess its free...

i like bill maher's show too although i think he is a little weasel sometimes...i love how he makes the plug for legalized prostitution every chance he gets, amen...the last one with sean penn and garry shandling was a riot but i thought that harold ford jr came off as kind of lame-o (i know he's a politician but that guy doesn't have much personality)

nevermind i would recommend bloomberg tv as a vastly superior source of financial news to cnbc, if that's what you're looking for...those anchors are all just a bunch of market cheerleaders and have no clue what is going on...erin burnett is definitely easy on the eyes but i like watching her much better with the sound off...i do like ripping on sue herrera, and again that's something that can be done with the sound off...i also suspect that you could fit one of those toy chihuahas in the bags underneath maria bartiromo's eyes but i could be wrong...lol...

Gary Shandling made that show last week. He is a fucking riot!!The part where he said " Man how much time do we have left? This is really long" had me in stitches. Shandling is funny not cuz of what he says but how he says it.


Bloomberg is cool but in the end all business news is a big sales show. I just look at numbers is all and try to tune out what they are saying half the time.





Nevermind

 

[Guest]

Gary Shandling made that show last week. He is a fucking riot!!The part where he said " Man how much time do we have left? This is really long" had me in stitches. Shandling is funny not cuz of what he says but how he says it.


Bloomberg is cool but in the end all business news is a big sales show. I just look at numbers is all and try to tune out what they are saying half the time.

dude i totally agree, that garry shandling has more humor in his pinky finger than larry david and jerry seinfeld put together...it was really funny when his cell phone went off too hahaha....

i agree about the sales thing, i prefer numbers as well...u should check out CQG if ur into technical analysis, u can get a free trial...



if i'm watching a sporting event i like to turn it on, pause it, do some other shit for 30 or 40 minutes then start watching, and by the end of the game i'm usually right back up to live tv and didn't have to sit thru any commercials or halftime...

 

[MickeyBlue42]

Hey all... I know it has a lot of negative sides. But when you live in a sandpit in africa , on your own, women are as common as dodo's , then it is an important thing to have. Otherwise its sooo limited what you can do here!

And yes I also read , and gym 4/5 times a week and get out. But when its inhospitable here e.g. February cause its averaging 40 deg c , then its nice to be able to flick on the aircon and chillout and watch the tube.

 

[9Lives]

National Geographic, Discovery, Discovery Science & History (or whats it called) and explorer every now and then..

Lol Explorer had a worthwhile reality show. Cant remember the name but it was about 3 guys & 3 girls who wanted to be porn actors Assignments, games, porn..it had it all..i was sold!

 

[Guest]

I think what is happening is that the TRUE artist are hard to come by in the entertainment field and what we are seeing and hearing are people who just like acting and/or music. They don't have a deep love for what they are doing which means no creativity other than what was popular at a certain time.

I remember when I use to not understand rock'n'roll groups because it seems like they all was trying to imitate groups in the '70's and '80's with the looks and attitudes as well as using the same instruments without adding anything else which made it all sound the same and that's why I loved hip hop music because it was the total opposite.

Fast Forward to now and rap music is doing the EXACT same thing and it is really corny. The groups use the same instruments, look the same, talk about the same things, and are scared to speak up and say what they want UNLESS it's to kill somebody they have beef with BUT when it comes to speaking out against society or just things outside of their personal life they get quiet.

Television needs better script writers that deal with EVERYDAY stories besides what WOMEN want to see and also cater to a man's perspective but what's really needed is the true artists to come back to make the scripts come to life. Peace.

 

[Uncle Jesse]

I dont have tivo but i do have a TV Card and Media Edition XP wich allows me to
video tape tv on my computer and play it back through the TV if i want,
and i fast forward threw commercials, I record 2 1/2 men , Lettermen, Boston Legal
SNL mostly commedys and i can burn em to disc if i want wich is kinda cool.

 

[PazVerdeRadical]

I think what is happening is that the TRUE artist are hard to come by in the entertainment field and what we are seeing and hearing are people who just like acting and/or music. They don't have a deep love for what they are doing which means no creativity other than what was popular at a certain time.

I remember when I use to not understand rock'n'roll groups because it seems like they all was trying to imitate groups in the '70's and '80's with the looks and attitudes as well as using the same instruments without adding anything else which made it all sound the same and that's why I loved hip hop music because it was the total opposite.

Fast Forward to now and rap music is doing the EXACT same thing and it is really corny. The groups use the same instruments, look the same, talk about the same things, and are scared to speak up and say what they want UNLESS it's to kill somebody they have beef with BUT when it comes to speaking out against society or just things outside of their personal life they get quiet.

Television needs better script writers that deal with EVERYDAY stories besides what WOMEN want to see and also cater to a man's perspective but what's really needed is the true artists to come back to make the scripts come to life. Peace.

the true artist is a danger to the buisness of the entertainment industry and politricks though...

i watch some tv, football of course (soccer), movies, and random stuff.
most shows are crap for sure though.

what tv needs is new channels owned and ran by the people lofty describes, but for that u need lots of capital and quality human resources, difficult things to find...

just imagine what kind of a dumbass is the guy who approves some of the most idiotic crap that tv has ever seen? that means that a lot of all tv programming is in the hands of not too intelligent people.

 

[SEEDYNONO]

i'm more and more impressed with bbc programming every day.