Number Of TV Households Drops

COMMENTS (12)

• Or is it that too much mindless reality and unnecessary scripted remakes are starting to give people more and more reasons not to watch TV in the first place?

  Such is the obvious result of too much bottom-lining.

  Comment by Terrence — Tuesday May 3, 2011 @ 12:01pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Wouldn’t the poor (and a lot middle class) not be able to afford cable? I know a lot of middle class people who refuse to pay $80 for cable. My friends in their twenties can’t afford cable either because of no or under employment or student loans. A lot will just pay for Internet and Netflix.

  I think the cable companies are pricing themselves out of the market. Of course, since most cable companies are also ISPs, their plans for metered Internet access will probably kill Netflix and Hulu.

  Comment by Blanch — Tuesday May 3, 2011 @ 12:01pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Nielsen–and the entire industry–has had over fifteen fuckin’ years to figure out where the future was headed! It was obvious in the mid-90s that television programming would wind up on computers, and yet, Nielsen is still shocked, shocked. Another newsflash: It ain’t just college kids watching on computers. ‘Cause all us dotcom babies are now middle-aged adults. With disposable incomes.

  Comment by DotCom Vet — Tuesday May 3, 2011 @ 12:05pm PDT  Reply to this post

• What seems to be more likely… is that families are ‘consolidating’ homes. IE… college kids, post grads, young adults moving back in with their parents. Homeowners opting to have their parents live with them in their house vs live in a ‘old folks home’ — this can easily account for a drop in tv homes.

  It’s not a situation of the younger demo’s not watching programming at all (thought they are likely watching on computers)

  Comment by anon. — Tuesday May 3, 2011 @ 12:07pm PDT  Reply to this post

• People may own TVs and simply use them to connect to an Apple TV (read: Netflix), or the like. That kind of thing wouldn’t show up on the Nielsen Rating system as described above.

  Comment by Jonanthan Schiefer — Tuesday May 3, 2011 @ 12:12pm PDT  Reply to this post

• I used to know people who did not watch TV but they all had TVs. Now I know several people who do not own TVs. They still watch some TV shows on sites like Hulu but overall they do not have any regular shows that they watch. Why? They all say the same thing. That TV is boring. These are some people who are working people in their 20s and people up to their 50s. When they want to watch something that is ‘event TV’ – a season finale or a game – they all gang up at one persons house to watch.

  Comment by Rina — Tuesday May 3, 2011 @ 1:01pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Where can you get cable for $80???? Here it is over $100 for cable and internet. We have a TV, but have an antenna and Netflix. One year of Netflix is about the same price as one MONTH of cable. Plus TV pretty much sucks most of the time, so why pay for it.

  Comment by Anon — Tuesday May 3, 2011 @ 1:09pm PDT  Reply to this post

• I’m a creative in the industry living here in LA. I do well and need to know what’s happening on TV for my job — and as well, I am a TV junkie! Love it. But I don’t own one. I got rid of my television(s) last year, and still stay current on everything and anything I want to watch (and then some!!!). I actually never missed a beat. I don’t watch ‘Desperate Housewives’ when it’s on Sunday at 9pm, nor do I have it DVR’ed, since I don’t have a television — but I do get to watch it anytime I want. On ABC.COM. And anywhere I want, be it on my ipad, iphone, or on my laptop on the balcony early in the morning.

  I don’t watch ‘SNL’ on Saturday nights, but I do watch it on hulu. Again, whenever I want. Any day, any time. No problem. I can watch it in my room lying on my bed, I can watch it in the kitchen while making spaghetti for the family. The beauty of a laptop, the internet, and today’s technology. Now, those are just TWO examples.

  So let’s get even more into this.

  All my news is on websites. Most shows I don’t need in full, I just watch clips. And when I’m watching an entire season of ‘Weeds’ I just order it (*ahem* download it) on Netflix. I don’t need to pay for showtime or starz or whatever channel ‘Weeds’ is on because it’s pointless, waste of money. And see that?! I don’t even need to know what shows are on what channels anymore! The Big 3 (or is it 4?) networks are becoming more and more blurred into AMC, TBS, CW, etc. No one cares what is cable, what is basic, because it’s all online or on netflix. And studios, executives, nielsen — they’re in such denial! So sad.

  And here’s the other thing, the best thing: The name of the game in our society right now, and forever more, is multi-tasking. It’s what we do, and the next generation is just going to be getting more intense about it, more ADHD when it comes to needing to do a million things at once. Well, when I’m watching these shows, if there are advertising interruptions (or there’s just a lull in a scene) I’m also checking email, FB, twitter, looking at Deadline, on other websites, and so on, so forth. Television isn’t dead. I mean, the physical “Television Set” may be, but the shows on Television aren’t. But the model of how they’re brought to the audience has gone the way of Osama bin Laden. (AND FYI, NBC: SYNCING YOUR SHOWS TO IPADS AIN’T GONNA CHANGE THAT. STUPID.)

  NIELSEN, NETWORKS, TV EXECS, they’re facing what the oil industry will be facing once there are barely any fossil fuels left: desperation, denial, and holding on dearly to something that no longer exists — but oddly, ironically, sadly, expecting the same – or better – results.

  Comment by Silly Rabbit — Tuesday May 3, 2011 @ 2:06pm PDT  Reply to this post

  • And by SYNCING TO IPAD, I mean NBC is trying to make their shows more interactive via chatrooms, games, trivia via APPs while watching their shows on TV. However, that just distracts the viewer from actually WATCHING THE SHOW. ABC tried it too. Pointless.

    Not to mention the fact that the WGA probably has no coverage over who is writing the trivia for those APPs. Awful. Man, TV, NETWORKS, NIELSENS, UNIONS… catch up!

    Comment by Silly Rabbit — Tuesday May 3, 2011 @ 2:11pm PDT  Reply to this post

  • There’s more oil in the Baaken region than in the entire Middle East. And that’s ONE of several of oil rich regions throughout just North America, here we ARENT drilling, while we finance other countries efforts to extract said oil. Indeed, you are a silly rabbit.

    Comment by taxPAYER — Tuesday May 3, 2011 @ 7:00pm PDT  Reply to this post

• >>>As cynical as it may sound, advertisers likely wouldn’t care much about that.

  Hmph. Not care about all those people who treated their homes like ATMs to buy the crap they saw in ads? All those who are now homeless?

  Comment by Mike Cane — Tuesday May 3, 2011 @ 4:00pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Why wouldn’t anyone consider the big switch to digital as a good reason for this? Alternate viewing choices like the internet would come into play, sure — but when everyone had to either buy a new TV to receive over-the-air broadcasts, or to buy a special device to use their old TV — that right there sounds like one of the best things to point at.

  Comment by Raaawb — Tuesday May 3, 2011 @ 8:26pm PDT  Reply to this post