The Death of Network Television

    The ages of TV being the main way we consume media are long behind us. The younger generation is more likely to spend hours watching short videos made by teenagers on TikTok rather than Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. This chart from Buisness Insider shows a very clear distinction; Network TV (NBC, CBS, etc.) is being consumed majorly by the older generation. Now, surely there are some confounding variables, such as older, less active people, have more free time on their hands than their younger counterparts. Also, traditional network television is what the older generation grew up with, making it their pass-time of choice.

George Jefferson- one of my favorite
characters to ever be on TV

    It is an important distinction to make that the older generation flocks to television for a reason. It is because they got to witness the rise and golden age of TV firsthand. Shows like Saturday Night Live, The Jeffersons, and Seinfield all swept over the nation in the late 20th century. These shows are now known as classics and are all prime examples of shows that were produced in this "golden era." But why? Well, these shows all did something new not only for the landscape of television at the time but also for culture. Take The Jeffersons for example, telling a story of a strictly African American family that didn't rely on blatant racism to be entertaining but rather clever writing, loveable characters, an absolute banger of a theme song, and most importantly powerful underlying messages the audience could take away to their own lives. These shows were so culturally impactful that people would carve out time in their schedules to sit and watch the shows with their families or even alone. It reminds me of the movie Rainman, in which the protagonist designs his schedule strictly around the TV shows he needs to watch with his TV schedule taking absolute priority. People were so invested that they felt like they could literally never miss an episode.

    Network TV now however SUCKS. They have lost the connection with their audience, they get way too political, and its just blatantly atrocious. Shows like The Neigborhood tell a story of a stereotypical white family moving into a stereotypically black neighborhood. While the concept alone isn't great, the execution is unimaginably worse. It feels as if it was a show written by a group of uninspired aliens or maybe some sort of artificial intelligence script writer. The jokes all rely on stereotypes to be funny, the characters are terribly written, and overall it hurts to watch. Seriously, Google some scenes if you aren't familiar and you will surely understand my sentiment. What hurts the most, is it just communicates the lack of creativity and originality the younger generation is lacking. Networks don't know how to connect with their audience and writers have seemingly just gave up in trying.

    The generational divide of TV really displays itself when you compare streaming services to traditional networks. It is obvious that the networks don't understand how to connect with the younger audience that is slowly slipping away. However, streaming services like Netflix and Hulu are putting out made-in-house shows that the younger audience is going crazy for. Shows like Outer Banks, Stranger Things, and Narcos are all sweeping the nation like the "golden age" shows before them. Streaming platforms have cracked the problem the billion dollar networks before them seemingly couldn't, in getting the younger audience truly excited about TV. They are also having to deal with a whole different playing field. One oversaturated with on-demand entertainment from social media, video games, and Youtube. The streaming giants are putting in all the time and money necessary to keep their shows original and entertaining though. Additionally, they do not have to play by the same convoluted rules their major network competitors do which increases their freedoms for creative expression much greater. This becomes very obvious when watching a product of a streaming service side by side with a product of a major network; it just feels like they are made using two completely different formulas. One of these creative formulas is definitely showing its age and in turn causing a loss in younger viewership.

    In conclusion, I don't know what the point of writing this was, however my motivation is when I sit down on the couch after dinner and bare witness to the current atrocities on TV. I just can't help but wonder who the target audience for these shows is and seeing the lack of creativity and originality makes me sad for our current generation of people. Network television slowly being phased out I think accurately displays the shift of power from generation to generation we are currently going through.