first quarter
V.22 No.18 | 5/2/2013
Idiot Box
Elegy for Network TV
Q1 ratings say cable crushes
It’s time to have an uncomfortable talk about mortality. Television as we know it is in the process of dying a slow, painful death. The “big” networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and The CW) are scrambling to fix their ratings downturn. But it ain’t gonna happen. Today’s viewers are watching sitcoms on their DVRs, their cell phones, their iPads—anything but a creaky old television set. And cable TV is flat-out kicking broadcast television’s ass in the ratings game.
