At End of 2006-2007 Season, TV Viewership Continues its' Downward Slide

As recent viewership trends indicate, the television networks this season have seen a dwindling share of viewers.


AT END OF 2006-2007 SEASON, TV VIEWERSHIP CONTINUES ITS' DOWNWARD SLIDE
by Kentroversy

Those poor bastards in the Ivory Towers of television programming are desperate to know how they can reverse the downward trend in the rating of their network shows. A recent article in Entertainment Weekly's June 1, 2007 issue asked the question 'Are You Killing TV?' While this is asking this of ME THE READER, it really should be asked of the programmers themselves. The Bilderberg Group, in their first-ever meeting, issued an edict that "all entertainment should be kept at or below a sixth grade level," and THIS is most likely the real reason why folks are turning OFF the television.

Season-end figures released by the five major networks -- ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, and The CW -- reveal that in each week of the season, the typical number of viewers was 44.8 million people. This is ONLY 14.93% of the total population of the United States, and this represents a further deterioration of the ratings, which has been a trend for the past few years.

In the 2006-2007 season, outrageously long hiatuses in the middle of the broadcasting year, saw many hit shows lose momentum, with a typical 10%-20% loss of both ratings and viewers. And in the case where this happened with the CBS-TV early hit JERICHO, a loss of 25% of its' audience, saw the show end the year with 8 million viewers, and soon faced cancellation. Even stalwart hits such as THE SOPRANOS, LOST, CSI, and 24 -- each one a former ratings juggernaut -- each faced significant losses in their viewers and ratings.

Here are the year-end numbers for average weekly viewers for all five major broadcast networks:

• CBS-TV = 12.5 average weekly viewers


• FOX-TV = 10.3 average weekly viewers


• ABC-TV = 9.9 average weekly viewers


• NBC-TV = 8.9 average weekly viewers


• The CW = 3.2 average weekly viewers


• TOTAL = 44.8 average weekly viewers

And, here are the viewership losses for some former hit shows:

• Heroes (NBC-TV) = 2.6 million lost viewers since 09/06


• Jericho (CBS-TV) = 4 million lost viewers since 09/06


• The Sopranos (HBO-TV) = 1.7 million lost viewers since 04/07


• LOST (ABC-TV) = 2.2 million lost viewers since 02/07


• 24 (FOX-TV) = 5.2 million lost viewers since 01/07


• The Shield (ABC-TV) = 0.7 million lost viewers since 09/06


• Desperate Housewives (ABC-TV) = 5.3 million lost viewers since 09/06


• CSI (CBS-TV) = 2.2 million lost viewers since 09/06


• TOTAL = 23.9 total average weekly viewers lost since 09/06

So, while these programming executives bitch and complain about schedule hiatuses, DVR's, downloading, and even daylight savings time -- the fact remains -- the viewers are turning off their televisions because there is more and more channels featuring less and less mental stimulation.

In a word, most television shows suck! This is why my TV remains OFF most of the time ... and usually when it is on, I am watching something on TiVo or on DVD. And this is the way it is gonna stay until further notice!

© 2007 Kentroversy Papers
All rights reserved. Used with permission.


Sources:

The following sources were used in the creation of this Kentroversy Paper . . .

Entertainment Weekly - TV Headlines

The Hollywood Reporter - TV Headlines

Zap2It.com - TV Ratings

ABC-TV

CBS-TV

FOX-TV

NBC-TV

The CW

24

CSI

Desperate Housewives

Heroes

Jericho

Kentroversy

Kentroversy Papers

Kentroversy Tapes

LOST

The Shield

The Sopranos