The tragic state of television today

As I’m sure many of you know by now, I am a man of varying passions.  I somehow manage to find time for movies, sports, music and television – all after I spend time with my family of course.  Despite all the different pass times, I find myself constantly going back to television when I need an escape.  There was always something good on, and it has always been easy for me to develop a connection with a show and it’s characters.  My Tivo was almost always full, and when it wasn’t I always had the joys of On Demand for my television fix.  I don’t know if you’ve caught on by now, but I’ve been using the past tense when describing my tv viewing habits.  Things have changed over the last 5 years.  The whole medium of television is facing uncertainty with the introduction of Tivo’s, web based tv viewing services, and other forms of portable viewing.  Television has always been possible because of the massive amounts of ad revenue that a good show or a great network could generate.  Simply put, television could make you rich.  But with new viewing habits come a decrease in ad revenue, as fans are actually watching less commercials when watching a tv show than ever before.  Personally, I think it’s great, as I’m sure most consumers would agree.  I hate commercials.  Most of them are lame, and personally I can’t stand having things forced on me.  So I just can’t watch commercials that are telling me what kind of dish soap I should use; or how cool I would be if I had an iPod; or how beautiful women would be fighting over me if I only used the right deodorant or drank a particular type of beer.  Consumers are smart; most people who don’t like watching commercials understand how effective they can be.  Advertisers have become masters at subliminal messaging, and seeing a commercial frequently enough can actually trick you into buying something you likely would not have if you never saw the commercial.

With consumers fighting back by watching programs on Tivo or with limited commercial interruption online, networks are having to find news ways to increase the bottom line and keep their pockets lined with cash.  Unfortunately for the viewers who want nothing to do with this advertising war, it is usually the minority that suffers.  In this case, I am referring to the programs with fledgling or low fan bases, and the punishment usually comes in the form of a cancellation or reduction of episodes for the season, without ever giving quality television time to develop.  In these times, networks demand instant gratification in the form of big time ratings even from new programs.  Those that can’t produce get the axe, no matter how well received they are by the fans/critics who actually watch the program.  Shows that can produce the numbers get to stay on the air no matter how lame the premise or how terrible the acting may be.  So we get shows like Terminator:  The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Reaper, and The Unusuals cancelled while networks pick up pure stinking television garbage like 90210, America’s next top (insert profession here), and One Tree Hill.  To make matters worse, on top of all of that there is advertising going on right in front of our eyes in some of our favorite programs, and some people don’t even know it!  Fast Food chains sponsoring tv shows and writers finding clever and sneaky ways to incorporate a sponsor/advertiser’s product into the program itself.  Believe me when I say this happens more than you know!

Consider this:  You are watching an episode of your favorite show.  One character decides to visit another character.  Upon his arrival, the host character asks his friend if he is thirsty and would like anything to drink.  The visitor, of course, replies with an emphatic yes.  So they head into the kitchen, where you find some Gladware sitting on the counter.  The host opens the fridge and begins offering beverages to his guest.  “I have some juice, some milk, and Dr Pepper…”  The friend replies “Dr Pepper?  Hell yeah! (he cracks it open and takes a drink) “I love this stuff.”  The show then progresses as usual.  End scene.

I don’t know if you have noticed this or not, but it is actually not that far from the truth.  In fact, the example I chose to use was based on something I actually watched on tv not long ago.  Shocking but true.  If advertisers can’t get enough viewers to watch commercials, then incorporating the product into the show is the next best thing, and it is an arguably more effective strategy.  No one is immune to it; if you watch something that follows close to that example, your subconscious will bring that “featured” product to mind first when shopping for related products.  It really is quite sneaky and shockingly devious.  But what can we do about it?  Anything?  Not likely.  It would be next to impossible to prevent your unassuming brain from being taken advantage of.  What’s the alternative?  I’ve pondered this for quite some time, and I just don’t see an alternative solution short of watching less tv.

Advertising isn’t the only big issue facing television today.  I’m sure you’ve all experienced it at least once over the last 5 years; your favorite tv show is cancelled.  It had a great premise, and it was well received by everyone who has watched it, but it was still cancelled.  What gives?  Unfortunately for tv fans, networks are all too quick to give up on fledgling series’ if they are not getting consistently high numbers.  What’s worse is that despite the fact that fans now watch shows on the internet and mobile devices, those are not factored into the Nelson ratings that determine viewership.  Take Terminator:  The Sarah Connor Chroniclesfor example.  The show had poor ratings, and was moved to the tv hell that is Friday night.  But it had a strong core of fans.  People watched the series online, likely as a result of the series airing live on a night when people don’t traditionally stay at home and watch television, especially in the core demographic the show appeals to.  Take those numbers into consideration, and consider advertising possibilities for online tv viewing, and it is possible that the show could continue on with a smaller production budget.  Fans of the series were pissed that it was cancelled, and deservingly so.  As season 2 went on, it started getting more and more into the terminator lore that hardcore fans knew and loved.  It truly was a shame.

The world is changing, and the tv world is following.  Viewers have changed.  Viewing habits have changed.  It’s time to take this into consideration!  It’s time for ad agencies to devise a profitable strategy for advertising tv online and on mobile devices.  Maybe then we could enjoy our favorite programs for longer than one shortened season.  The bitter reality is that these new viewing methods aren’t being seriously considered, no matter what is said about “sweeping changes” in the Nielsen ratings system.  They say they are making changes, and possibly they are, but it clearly isn’t working right now.  At this point, I’m sure a lot of you are curious as to what is “being done” to rectify this problem.  There are concerns by a lot of industry insiders about  accuracy and potential bias within Nielsen’s rating system.  To “rectify” this issue, Nielsen announced a “sweeping” plan to revamp its entire methodology to include all types of media viewing in its sample.  It’s unclear at this time how much has changed and how effective this new strategy is, but we are still seeing series in high demand online being cancelled due to “poor ratings.”  This could just be an excuse by the network to cancel a series they just don’t see as profitable in the long term, but if a show is getting ratings traditionally and/or online, that it must be profitable, right?  Also, always remember that the money grab erases the shame of admitting fault or flaw.  If a network cancels a series and it goes on to prove profitable through syndication and/or DVD sales, they’ve proven they will happily bring it back so they can cash in on a series that they were too quick to give up on.  Family Guy and Futurama are excellent examples.  It can happen!!!

Another issue to consider is that since viewers are aware of being part of the Nielsen sample, it can lead to response bias in their recording and viewing habits. Audience counts gathered by the self-reporting diary methodology are sometimes higher than those gathered by the electronic meters which provide less opportunity for response bias. This trend seems to be more common for news programming and popular prime time programming.  Also, daytime viewing and late night viewing tend to be under-reported by the diary.  But the far more troubling concern with the system is that it is not random in the statistical sense of the word. Only a small fraction of the population is selected and only those that actually accept participation are used as the sample size. Making things even worse is the fact that of the sample data that is collected, advertisers will not pay for time shifted (recorded for replay at a different time) programs, rendering the ‘raw’ numbers useless.  In many local areas, the difference between a rating that keeps a show on the air and one that will cancel it is so small as to be statistically insignificant, and yet the show that just happens to get the higher rating will survive.  As the possible choices increase so does the margin of error, resulting in the sampling sizes being too small.  In 2004, there was a plan to replace aging household electronic data collection methodology in larger local markets with new electronic People Meter system.  The thought here is that data derived from the newer People Meter system represented a bias toward under-reporting minority viewing, which could lead to a de-facto discrimination in employment against minority actors and writers.  Nielsen countered the campaign by revealing its sample composition counts.  Obviously, issues emerged and by October 2006,Nielsen agreed to spend an additional $50 million to ensure that minority viewing was not being under-reported by the new electronic people meter system.

But back to my biggest complaint about the Nielsen system; its lack of a system for measuring television audiences in environments outside the home, such as college dormitories, transport terminals, bars, and other public places where television is frequently viewed, often by large numbers of people in a common setting; also, internet TV viewing using Apple iTunes, atomfilms, YouTube, and some of the networks’ own websites (ABC.com, CBS.com) provide full-length web-based programming, either subscription-based or ad-supported.  Web sites can already track popularity of a site and the referring page, but they can’t track viewer demographics.  To both track this and expand their market research offerings, Nielsen purchased NetRatings in 2007.  Still, there are complaints that public viewing or viewing in dorms and bars, in addition to online viewing, is not accurate enough to reflect the true viewership of a series.  Is there anything we can do to rectify this issue?  Online petitions are a possibility, as is putting on a very public display of satisfaction.  It would help if the creators of these creative yet cancelled series’ voiced their concerns about the current Nielsen system, that would also help.  But at the end of the day, until the majority of the people in the industry accept the wave of changes in television viewership and advertising potential, there is little chance for anything to change.

In conclusion, there are a lot of problems facing the industry and television fans alike.  A changing world is slowly forcing a change in the way everyone thinks about tv.  That’s what is beautiful about technology.  The times, they are changing, and seemingly every day we get cool new tools to use to enjoy our favorite pass times.  And there is so much potential for instant gratification, no matter what you like in your tv.  We have to be unified in our criticisms of the system and we have to be patient.  Right now, the proper changes for the industry are a ways away.  We have to be willing to wait it out, and eventually the world will change again.  And we’ll have new trends in what people watch and how they watch it.  You have to believe that eventually, we’ll get it right.  To pass the time, I suggest to you all a few things that could help in the short term:  watch your favorite show live in your own home whenever possible, and don’t submit to peer pressure!  Refuse to watch unimaginative television, pass on reality tv and live tv contests!  Finally, and most importantly, take advantage of the technology in front of you!  Make your opinions heard.  Blog about how much you hate creative new shows being cancelled, or how much you hate corporate sponsorship of tv programming.  Include it in your podcast!  Believe it or not, tv execs pay attention, if the “voice” is loud enough.  Remember the return of Jericho?  How fans brought back Family Guy, and more recently, Futurama?  Support what you love, and go online to bash what you hate.  It’s your right as the viewer, and if you take advantage of that, you just might be lucky enough to get exactly what you want.