To TV or Not to TV

I had to go back to re-read the latest Nielsen figures. Did it really report that the number of total television households in the United States is up?

It couldn't be. I thought I was one of the few people in the whole country who still watched TV.

Hadn't Nielsen heard? Everyone's online. People are watching on their PDAs. They're doing the Hulu and scanning all the CSIs. I even saw stories on TV that TV is dead. My cellphone flashed me the news alert, too.

No, the AP story said Nielsen "estimates the number of television households in the United States is up to 114.9 million as the new TV season begins."

That was followed by the estimate that the number has increased by 400,000 homes since last year. "That's the smallest increase in the past decade."

All right. There's that other shoe. It's the smallest increase.

As a devoted consumer of new and old media and a purveyor of platforms, I'm encouraged even by the smallest increase in viewers. I know I pay more attention to numbers of TV viewers than most because my late husband produced many of the most-popular shows for those viewers for decades. But, I was worried for the future Aaron Spellings of America that no one would be watching unless producers could translate Dynasty and Charlie's Angels to a 3.5 inch (diagonal, natch) screen with a few hundred pixels.

The latest Nielsen report concluded that the nation's total viewers over age two has increased to 292 million. Make that 292,000,001. I'm not ready to surrender my membership in the TV households of America club just yet.

Follow Candy Spelling on Twitter: www.twitter.com/cscandyland

Comments

[nikki923]

i miss the days of aaron spelling television. i watch absolutely zero tv now, but dynasty was and always will be my favorite show.

[Ed438]

I don't watch much TV and rarely at home. But I know a lot about it primarily from the computer and being forced to look up people I never heard of, out of sheer curiosity. And also when I'm working out at the Y there are TVs all over the place. like it or not. (and I mostly don't.)

[Srkdqltr]

People will tell you they don't watch TV anymore but they know all the programs.
Most who say they don't watch are not telling the truth??

[jeff01]

TV rules!

[kaseybandit]

I'm 292,000,003

[Pavane]

I turned off the cable 22 years ago and never looked back.

[phlashba]

TV IS dead. Make no mistake. I gave up mine 8 years ago. Best thing I EVER did!

[picaman]

lots of people giving up their cable and going back to free broadcast...

[FinallyFreeOfGeorgeIII]

There are a lot of TVs out there, but how many are useless without a digital converter? And as for programming, how do you even tell the shows apart? Nonexistent scripts, two-dimensional characters, incessant pharma and auto ads, and infotainment news coverage. Meh. You can plug any character into any other show without a ripple.

[SeriouslySarah]

I think it's because of Tori and Dean's show. I love it!

[MyThought]

Unlike you Mrs. Spelling, so many people can't afford to go out, take their children to Disney World, etc. They watch TV for entertainment because they can't afford to to anything else.

Why it has gone up beats me - the quality of TV is pathetic.

[organicthemepark]

I've been a "non-TV" household now for more than 5 years. I returned to the library instead and down-loaded and streamed from my lap-top. My life has improved and became richer with 20 plus books read per year! I recently watched PBS' full "Antique Road Shows" on PBS.org just a couple of days ago. I was amazed to watch the entire length of the MJ memorial free and completely streamed for more than an hour and a half without any technical glitches (no overheating). Hulu for SIMPSONS when I need a laugh. I have saved thousands from no cable bills and increased my I.Q. thanks to books and blogs. Did Nielsen measure how many existing households have pulled the TV plug over the past 5 years? Was I not counted?

[yodaveg]

Candy,

TV as your husband knew it is dead. Media fragmentation and ad-zapping DVRs are chipping away at the overblown entertainments that dominated his era. Cheapo reality shows and the likes of Leno's new priimetime strip are the latest nails in the coffin.

[VoteOnPaper]

As a 40 year old who had too much TV as a child and no TV in college, I consider TV to be my drug of choice. Today, my TV is merely a means to view DVDs. Eliminating that drug has been the best gift I have ever given myself.

[DWHarper]

You see, there is this thing called sex and sometimes after a couple engages in sex, they produce a child and when that child is over 2 years old, the boys at Nielsen will count that child as a possible tv viewer and I am gonna wager a guess that certainly by 5 years old that child WILL be watching tv. And this process happens very often and thats why we have MORE TV viewers. The problem hasn't been not enough viewers, its that the audience has been fractured by the many choices that cable and satellite provide. Yes, young people are going to the computer but they also happen to be watching TV at the same time. I do.