It looks like television ratings dropped again this year, despite the writer’s strike being long over and all shows back up to full speed, some with extended seasons. While the linked article offers no real explanation as to why this is the case, I bet I help.
For one thing, there are five broadcast networks that you can pick up with a television antenna. They are NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, and CW. Of the five, Fox had the highest ratings, even though they suffered loses as well. This probably has something to do with their commitment to science fiction television and the ever popular (although completely retarded) American Idol.
I am a science fiction and fantasy geek myself. But I have certain levels of taste and I am really a big snob when it comes to science fiction. I was probably the Computer Science major in the class of 2004 at Virginia Tech who could not stand The Matrix. The movie was really good until the truth was discovered, that is that robots, despite all forms of non-solar energy, decided to harvest energy from people. It was a pretty lame premise for pointless action.
The problem is that most new shows on these networks are by and large crap. The only new show I picked up this year was Fringe, which was probably the best new science fiction show despite the main character being a little annoying at times. The others, such as Dollhouse, My Own Worst Enemy, Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, and Life on Mars did not appear to be all that appealing to me. It is pretty easy for me to spot a lemon show or movie just by watching the previews. Usually, if the show appeals to the lowest common denominator, such blatant sexuality, I tend to shut it out.
As for the drama shows, most of them appeared to be just plain garbage. I stopped watching House altogether because the plots are all the same and despite the characters being pretty solid, even good characters cannot recover from bad stories.
Ultimately, television just has not been as good from where I stand. This is probably fortunate for me because I am going to commit to only, at most, four hours of television a week and instead focus on other things. It has been a big time waster for me anyhow and given the pointless crap that the networks have been pushing out lately, I have no reason not to. I will probably be listing all the shows I have been watching and start prioritizing them.
It should not be too hard, especially if I find other things to do with my time. And given the track record of the major networks, I probably will not have too much trouble.