[Rant] Death of TV viewership,ads and Sponsorships

[4dude]

I used to watch a lot of TV when i was younger.

Almost 4 hours a day at times,mostly after school hours,obviously.

But over the years,my TV Viewing habits have declined.

They've almost dropped off the map totally for a few reasons...


1 - Reality shows. - Worst programming to ever come out.....

People eating bugs,etc...... Its the most disgusting/cheapest crap they could fill the airwaves with........


2 - On Screen clutter. It started with network bugs. Then the TVY7+ ratings. After that came text scrolls,pop ups telling you what show you are currently watching (just in case you where dumb enough not to figure it out),on screen animated advertisements that cover up a 1/3rd of the picture if you where lucky for the show coming up next.

This is the most disgusting part of commercial TV today.... There is no point watching anything worthy on a standard channel anymore BECAUSE OF ALL THIS CRAP ON THE SCREEN DURING THE SHOW!!!!

It is utterly disgusting!! (That plus they edit so much out of movies on a standard channel its not worth it)

So worried about KIDS seeing something......

I have an idea.....

TAKE AWAY THESE STUPID CRAP/HORRIBLE GAMES THAT ARE MADE TODAY AND THAT THEY PLAY DAILY (AFFECTING THIER MINDS) THEN WE CAN START TALKING!!!!!!!

3 - In Product Advertising. As if an hour show being reduced to almost 41 minutes isnt bad enough,now they apparently have shows being sponsored by companies who want their product front and center. (WAY TOO MUCH SPAM IN THIS COUNTRY,ITS TOTALLY SICKENING)

4 - Corporate Sponsor ships. Do these really work? Does anyone care if a half time report is sponsored by Visa? Does the logo plastered all over no less than 9 plasma screens really make you say,'gee,I've gotta switch card companies today..'?


All this and more has caused me to really dislike TV over the last 6 years or so....

Almost nothing but garbage on TV today and its sickening...

Im ready to explode i have so much anger because of things today!!!

Just curious if anyone is feeling the same way?

 

[sandiegoinexile]

Oh, and hey, you kids, get off my lawn.

 

[imhomerjay]

Since TV viewing is up, it's not likely everyone feels the way you do, and hopefully most folks are capable of understanding it's just TV--no need to be "filled with anger."

Perhaps the problem was watching too much TV as a wee one...

 

[WMC2006]

Just curious if anyone is feeling the same way?

Gee, Dude, relax a tad. You'll bust a braincell if you get too angry.

Sit back and eat some of those new-recipe M&M's you hate so much. That should calm you down. ;D

 

[landtuna]

Dude,

I didn't have the viewing habit you apparently did as a youth but I feel much the same way about the current state of TV, both content and presentation.

I've gotten into the habit of recording virtually everything I watch other than live sports (excepting NASCAR which I also record due to their endless stream of commercials). It doesn't solve the on-screen bugs or pop-ups but does eliminate most every other nuisance.

For the record most of my viewing now is on the History channels, Military, Discovery and news/financial services. My network viewing is down to three comedies and one 'reality' show per week (except for college football which hasn't been totally ruined yet).

 

[dustintv]

Since TV viewing is up, it's not likely everyone feels the way you do,

Although TV viewing is up, network viewing is quite down. Of course all those three hundred pound teenage girls are watching the Hills to make up for it.

 

[imhomerjay]

Since TV viewing is up, it's not likely everyone feels the way you do,

Although TV viewing is up, network viewing is quite down. Of course all those three hundred pound teenage girls are watching the Hills to make up for it.

Baseless snide remarks aside, of course "network" viewing is down. Choices have gone from a half dozen to hundreds, not to mention on-demand type services. There are more choices for people's wide tastes--edgier stuff like The Sheild or Nip/Tuck on one channel, lighter-toned things like Starter Wife or Monk on another; sports galore; music; kids; etc. The point is that people, collectively, are watching more TV--they're just finding what they want in more places.

 

[BRNout]

No, I have to agree with the Dude - even if he seems a bit worked up. When I was younger, I also enjoyed an awful lot of network TV. And, I recall that there was something good on almost every night of the week. More often than not (even reaching back through the 70s), there would be an entire lineup of great shows on offer.

In the Chicago area, there is a pair of digital-only broadcast channels called "Me" and "Me Too" which broadcast some fantastic "classic" programming. A lot of which is rarely seen elsewhere. Great stuff! While checking out an episode of Magnum P.I. on Me TV over the weekend, it occurred to me how well done shows like that were in the 60s, 70s and 80s and how many such shows were out there back then. Not to mention the episode of Hawaii Five-O that I'd seen earlier in the day. Another excellent show to watch back in the day.

We all remember the sitcoms from the last 40+ years, but a lot of the dramas and crime shows were really excellent too. They generally had 'something' to entertain pretty much everyone in the audience and were real crowd pleasers. Now [and, this may sound like an old man rant], it seems that directors/producers/writers churn out crap that seems to dive head-first toward the lowest common denominator. So-called reality TV is a big part of that....but it's not alone. A solid percentage of scripted shows seem to revel in overt sexual or scandalous storylines that are unnecessarily graphic. The writing is often weak as water. Toss some good-looking booty out there and the show writes itself. Or so they seem to think.

Few new comedies are "funny" any more. Again, weak writing and a lack of imagination seem to be the main culprits. Not to mention an unending desire to sell to a single demographic and forget everyone else. It all adds up to me (in my early 40s) watching a tiny fraction of the TV that I did 20 years ago. Clearly, I am not alone.

Sure, they can toss millions of us away in the trash bin....but where will that get the programmers? A smaller audience and a thin ad base. And, less revenue. Brilliant.

 

[sandiegoinexile]

I didn't have the viewing habit you apparently did as a youth but I feel much the same way about the current state of TV, both content and presentation....I've gotten into the habit of recording virtually everything I watch other than live sports (excepting NASCAR which I also record due to their endless stream of commercials). It doesn't solve the on-screen bugs or pop-ups but does eliminate most every other nuisance.

I was a TV-holic when growing up in the 70s-80s, the type of kid who saved every annual TV Guide Fall Preview and also planned the week around prime-time viewing. I was a somewhat early adopter of VCR usage and never understood why everyone complained about blinking 12:00...it was hardly rocket science to program.

I have rarely watched anything live for 15+ years. I record everything -- sports, news, cable, network. It allows me to save nearly 30% of my time, since 20+ minutes is wasted on commercials and "coming up next" drivel. At one point about a decade ago, I had as many as six VCRs.

But tastes change. I still have daily appointment programs (Letterman, Regis' first 15 minutes, the first couple Hot Topic segments of The View, Hardball, Katie'sNews). Sunday and Thursday always seem to have a few hours of decent primetime, but that's about it. Rarely do I ever need to have all VCRs recording (although tonight I do have them all running to watch the post-debate coverage on PBS/CBS/ABC/FauxNews/CNN while I watched MSNBC.)

Many folks use TV as "background noise". I've never understood that. Just flipping channels to watch "whatever". I'd rather crank the radio or stream something online.

I also think that we tend to more fondly recall the "quality TV" of the past. For every "WKRP", there were 5-6 "San Pedro Beach Bums".....

 

[jsu5381m]

Speaking of the good ol days, anyone remember Surfin Bird by the Trashmen? Family Guy ruined this past Sunday. Half of the show was nothing more than Peter singing Surfing Bird. Talk about a weak plot. Oh well, at least Peter wasn't singing Soulja Boy Crank Dat half of the show.

 

[DToTheJ]

Speaking of the good ol days, anyone remember Surfin Bird by the Trashmen? Family Guy ruined this past Sunday. Half of the show was nothing more than Peter singing Surfing Bird. Talk about a weak plot.

"Family Guy" is back with new episodes? It seems like only February that a new one aired.

This proves how little I watch network television!

 

[LKellerIII]

I'm sure this will be a minority opinion on the TV boards here - especially on the Classic TV board where people talk endlessly about the joy and rapture that was The Dukes of Hazzard, Petticoat Junction, and so forth.

IMHO - TV is so much better now that in the 60s and 70s. The proliferation of basic cable and premium cable and satellite have given us more variety than ever before. Now we have great scripted drama series and comedies on HBO like The Sopranos, Big Love, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. If you don't like HBO or don't want to pay for it, you can find similar high-quality dramas on basic cable channels like FX and AMC...series like The Shield, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and a number of others.

There are now more of this kind of quality TV than I have time to watch or get involved with. Sorry, but to say TV was better in the 60s, 70s or 80s is just wrong. A year or so ago, I watched an old rerun of Streets of San Francisco. I always considered Streets a top-notch cop drama for its time. Karl Malden and Michael Douglas are excellent actors, and Tony LoBianco guest starred. He's always good. But I was shocked to watch the show and realize how awful it was. The script was poorly written,trite, and melodramatic, the outcome of the plot didn't make sense, and it was cheaply shot with poor cinematography. Scripted drama on regular network TV is very much superior now.

The Classic TV board has an ABC Wednesday schedule from 1977 posted - featuring The Bionic Woman, Baretta, and The Rookies. I didn't watch any of these three regularly at the time because I thought they were inferior shows - but this is the kind of junk we were stuck with in the 70s.

I agree that reality TV programming is a scourge. But with that exception, I really think TV is much superior now.