Record Amount of TV Content

[TheBigA]

A few years back, a writer friend of mine was concerned that he was becoming a dinosaur. This was at a time when reality TV was at its height. The idea was to create lots of less expensive TV shows by not having writers. The era of scripted TV dramas had become too expensive. Then we see the rise of streaming video, from Netflix to Amazon Prime to Apple TV, and now we have a story that scripted video is at an all time high:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/09/media/scripted-television-series-tca-reliable-sources/index.html

There are more TV shows on more TV channels on more TV platforms than ever before. Shouldn't be a big surprise to readers of this board.

 

[landtuna]

And yet I am down to a mere two scripted shows per week plus some live sports.

No so-called "reality" shows (which are really game shows by another name) and no streamed shows.

We seem to have more channels than ever before but also more worthless content as well. I get much more education and entertainment from watching YouTube videos than broadcast TV.

 

[TheBigA]

We seem to have more channels than ever before but also more worthless content as well.

That's OK. No one promised that you'd like everything available.

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

And yet I am down to a mere two scripted shows per week plus some live sports.

No so-called "reality" shows (which are really game shows by another name) and no streamed shows.

We seem to have more channels than ever before but also more worthless content as well. I get much more education and entertainment from watching YouTube videos than broadcast TV.

Such was what the phrase OK boomer was invented for.

But seriously, that may say more about you. Plenty of people find things they thoroughly enjoy for a multitude of reasons amidst all that content. That doesn’t make the content worthless. It means it’s not what you want.

 

[Don CT]

And yet I am down to a mere two scripted shows per week plus some live sports.

No so-called "reality" shows (which are really game shows by another name) and no streamed shows.

We seem to have more channels than ever before but also more worthless content as well. I get much more education and entertainment from watching YouTube videos than broadcast TV.

YouTube has some good content. However the vast majority of it is crap.

 

[TheBigA]

YouTube has some good content. However the vast majority of it is crap.

Keep in mind it's USER GENERATED content, which is to say the content comes from anybody with an account.

That's very different from Netflix or Amazon Prime or Apple TV, companies that create content.

 

[Don CT]

Keep in mind it's USER GENERATED content, which is to say the content comes from anybody with an account.

That's very different from Netflix or Amazon Prime or Apple TV, companies that create content.

I'm not watching YouTube for scripted programming.

 

[umfan]

https://apnews.com/8896307d5ee00adfacb483330320d087

The amount of content is likely too much and I doubt is sustainable. John Landgraf, head of FX, has some interesting takes on this in the linked article.

 

[TheBigA]

The amount of content is likely too much and I doubt is sustainable.

Especially if the writers go on strike again, as they did in 1988.

 

[landtuna]

Keep in mind it's USER GENERATED content, which is to say the content comes from anybody with an account.

That's very different from Netflix or Amazon Prime or Apple TV, companies that create content.

Yes and no. There is a ton of user generated content, some of which is very good. One of the most entertaining streams is by a guy named "Briggs" who does "best of" and "worst of" (mostly cities and states). Other streams from a variety of sources is the examination of aircraft accidents (of interest to us old pilots). And plain old history from Romans, Greeks, and almost everyone else (The History Guy does short stories in this format and is very interesting to listen to).

But there is also a ton of other programs that originally came from one of the content producers (History, Military, etc.) and are no longer shown on the networks or diginets. Those are the ones I primarily watch.

 

[NoDakObserver]

Especially if the writers go on strike again, as they did in 1988.

I was getting confused by multiple people talking only about the writers striking in 1988, so I had to look it up.

The writers went on strike in 2007-2008, which affected a lot of programming and might have cost some shows a chance to get going. That's the one I remember the most.

That is more recent, why does that one seem forgotten?

 

[mnradiofan]

And yet I am down to a mere two scripted shows per week plus some live sports.

No so-called "reality" shows (which are really game shows by another name) and no streamed shows.

We seem to have more channels than ever before but also more worthless content as well. I get much more education and entertainment from watching YouTube videos than broadcast TV.

I think less and less "good" content is on broadcast or cable TV, as both try to super-serve the largest, most profitable to advertisers, demographics.

But the level and quality of content on streaming services is downright crazy right now, as they are able to "micro" serve individual audiences. (Netflix even released a family sitcom specifically based on Christmas). Sure, there is bound to be a LOT you don't like, but you should look at streaming services, because there is bound to be things you find that you like. And if learning is your thing, maybe a CuriousityStream subscription is the one that is best suited for you (they even recently dropped their prices). If that's not your thing, there are plenty of other services aside from the "big" guys.