March 27, 2005Are consumers weaning themselves off TV?
Filed Under: Consumer Central
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En route to the AAAA's Media Conference, I sat next to a media professional (in the TV business I might add...) who was telling me that once NYPD Blue came to an end, he and his wife would most likely not watch TV at that night/time i.e. look for a replacement, and would instead find something else to do such as read a book.
This thought stirred something that I've been mulling over for a while now: is it possible that consumers are slowly but surely (and either knowingly or unknowingly) weaning themselves off TV (as in live TV) in favor of a host of alternatives - such as the DVD, gaming, the Web, books, talking etc?
There's no doubt that the tepid state of content is part of this decision. When you think about it, megahits like Friends, Raymond or a level down, Frasier or Blue are being produced less and less, and try as the might talk up the fact that Dramas are at their all time peak, Housewives and LOST are really exceptions, as opposed to the norm.
So what do you think? Is there a slow and gradual countertrend against live TV taking place? Will VOD stem this tide or not?
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Comments
If the level of programming continues to suck, on the whole, then this will continue. We currently have a few shows that are successful, and keep spawning new versions when the networks are happy to get something right (see: CSI, L&O). The "reality" phase television still seems to find amusing is a joke to most, and it wouldn't be surprising if the video games / Internet / on-demand culture became the mainstream. The moment that the "on demand" over IP comes about, it'll be like one of those huge switches you see at Christmas tree lightings being flipped - and no one appears to be talking about it.
Posted by: Tom
