Have We Found Better Things to Do With Our Time?
by Lauren Strupp
According to the Nielsen Ratings, an annual survey that ranks television shows according to the number of viewers, the average American watches at least four hours of TV each day, or roughly 28 hours per week. If we calculate it out with these figures, in a sixty-year life span someone would effectively spend nine years glued to the television. That is a huge amount of time that we don’t spend actually living our lives. Lately though, it seems television stations are realizing that we aren’t watching as much television as we used to.
TV stations are canceling more and more shows because not enough people are watching them. Or is it because of TiVo and the ability to weed out whatever it is we don’t want to see? The WB and UPN are now merging to form a new station this fall called The CW. Because both stations are losing money, both Warner Brothers and CBS have decided to combine their top-rated shows to create optimum programming for those in the 18-34 age group. This merger has resulted in many other shows being canceled to make room in the lineup. Pepper Dennis, starring Rebecca Romijn, has been canceled after its first season, along with Living With Fran, What I Like About You, Everwood, One on One, Half and Half, and several others. While TiVo and other DVR’s are making life easier and more convenient for consumers, they are causing network heads immense distress.
The ABC network had a rough year with new shows. Every single one of the new shows that was in their lineup in the fall of 2005 has been canceled. Is it that ABC is just making poor decisions when it comes to choosing a series, or is the public just not as interested? Obviously ABC isn’t doing too poorly though because it houses three of television’s top shows: Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, and Lost. But despite some success, ABC finds itself completely revamping its schedule for this fall because of the lack of TV viewership.
The difference among those shows watched on live television and those watched recorded are staggering. For the week ending July 8, the most recorded shows were Rescue Me, The Closer, Entourage, So You Think You Can Dance, and Monk, while the most watched shows live were America’s Got Talent, Without a Trace, CSI: Miami, CSI, and House. They are a completely different selection of shows.
Perhaps it isn’t TiVo, but the fact that we are going out more, doing other things, and only watching the shows we have recorded if we have time. The thing about recorded shows though is that sometimes they are deleted before we even get a chance to watch them. Television, however, despite the changes in viewing, is still a large part of our daily lives. People will not stop watching it because it is a source of information, as well as entertainment.
ABC, however, is not the only network to develop changes for its fall lineup. FOX, NBC, and CBS all canceled several shows as well to make room for new pilots in the fall. But why do our opinions keep changing? We become attached to shows each season, but whether or not they stick around is out of our control. The networks decide which ones allow them to reap the most benefits, and discard the rest. While we appear to be focused on television, there are still so many other things we could be doing with our lives. Reading is still important, as well as staying active, especially since we live in a society that is classified as lazy and overweight.
Ratings have become so important in television, especially with the onset of TiVo, that shows can actually become “uncanceled” if a network thinks the ratings will improve. Aaron Spelling’s 7th Heaven was canceled this spring after ten years on The WB. However, since the merging of The WB and UPN, the show has been green-lighted again for an eleventh season. It can be seen at its previous time at 8 p.m. Mondays this fall on the new CW channel. It seems anything is possible with television as long as it benefits the ratings. But who knows how long 7th Heaven’s second life will last.
It is important that we remember how important television is to our
daily lives. No matter how much things change, it will always be there.
The 2006 Emmy Award nominations were recently released, but those avid
television watchers will be forced to wait in suspense until August
27. While television has become a significant part of our lives to date,
it is good to remember that we have found other things to occupy our
time. And let’s face it, if we want a break for television, there’s
always movies right?
