For many years I have been annoyed with television. Well, not exactly television. A television is just a box of some form or another, but rather the programs on television, actors on television, executives at the networks that produce programs for television. All are responsible.
There were several programs I would watch only to turn on one week and find rerun or not find anything. Some weeks it would run in pairs - two weeks of no new shows, or two weeks of re-runs. It was a serious turn-off and did result on several occasions in my turning the television off and not returning for 3-4 weeks. The net result of this - the American people lost interest in top rated shows and they dropped in viewership.
Then the executives at the networks fell out of the stupid tree and decided to revamp the way seasons were constructed. When I was young, the new 'Fall Season' began around Labor day and or very near the day I started school. While I did not enjoy returning to school, there was a silver lining - new programs.
A number of years passed and I paid little attention to television and when I again turned the TV on in the 1990s, seasons began in October and November and by 2005, several began their seasons whenever ... no rhyme or reason - just random.
This assumes people pay attention to schedules, watch at random times and do not care about structure or order in their lives. they have nothing better to do than tune in on March 11 to watch a new season or January 8 or June 21. But in the real world we live our lives quietly with structure and do not have time to monitor random television schedules.
The net result of this - the American people lost interest in top rated shows and they dropped in viewership.
Then we throw out shows that appeal to the lowest common denominator, shows intended for the severely stupid, and or mentally handicapped. In fact, that is unfair to individuals who have mental handicaps - they appreciate programs that appeal to the greatest ability of people not programs that mock or denigrate.
Then the strike ... and now, according to an article in Times Online, January 31, 2008:
American TV networks have lost almost a quarter of their audiences because of the Hollywood writers' strike, according to new figures, and executives fear that “orphaned” viewers may never return.
The Nielsen ratings organisation found that US viewership for last week's opening of the 2008 TV season was down 21 per cent compared with the same week last year, when new episodes of hit shows such as Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy were aired.
Bad news, yet again.
Dear Executives:
I appreciate the suffering you have endured as you smacked your head on every branch as you fell from the stupid tree, but if you want to save yourselves (long term) you need to make radical changes to your programming. You can most likely get some viewer interest back - should there be a war or an attack on the US or some other country, but short of that great programs will lose and have lost an audience. You think you can get it back - that is unfortunately one effect of all the tree whacking you suffered as you fell from the tree. No, you will never get it all back. A few more times like this and you will be paying advertisers to advertise on your programs.
Signed:
Unhappy
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