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Raise your hand if you still watch network television. Congratulations, you are part of a market that network executives will do anything to keep your attention. You are also part of a group who’s members are dwindling. What are the networks doing about this trend so they can keep their exiting viewers tuned in and loyal to their favorite shows? I am reminded of an ancroynm that a sales executive said he uses to sell any product or service to anyone, KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid. The acronym could explain the reason why the monster entities of network television focus on keeping their formula simple, their dialog simple and storyline simple. Has the result of this type of entertainment caused the dumbing down of Americans?
What Nielson Rates
Nielson reported in 2018 that the top viewed sitcoms were Roseanne and Sunday Night Football. A reboot of a sitcom from 1988 that has a racists lead actress was the most watched form of entertainment on network television. Also, number two was Sunday Night Football. Look, we all need an escape from the craziness of reality and televison is a great format for that escape. There is a reason why shows such as King of Queens, Married…With Children or Friends ran for so many years. These shows are light, silly and in some cases, crass and rude. They provide laughter and a getaway from the daily grind. The trend that is conerning are the amount of viewers that contiue to commit to watch these kind of shows. The networks continue to churn out the latest version of these same shows and leave out the opportunity for other shows of substance because the data shows the audience may not be there.
Don’t forget streaming services
Netflix and Hulu are not clear of the blame about this issue. They may have changed the game when it comes to televison options but that doesn’t mean their quaility is not any better than the networks. These streaming venues offer a large variety of their own sitcoms yet the ones that keep getting advertisement and rotation are ones that stay the norm. Case in point, the reboot of One Day At A Time on Netflix. Great writers, tackled issues effecting Latinx community and just plain funny, but it as canceled after three seasons. We’ve seen this happen to other thought provoking and entertaining shows like Hannibal, Veronica Mars and John Doe.
Should audiences demand quality over cheap laughs and jokes? How can we find that perfect combination of entertainment and cerebral stimulus and create a large enough audience for those shows to retain? Or do we abandon televison all together? Yeah, that was an extreme suggestion, but valid. We will dive further into this topic during our podcast.
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Relationships: Calling ourselves Kings and Queens – Colonizer terms?
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