Slashdot Mirror
A Record High of 455 Scripted TV Shows Aired in 2016 (vulture.com)
In case you wanted to ground your abstract TV FOMO in hard numbers, FX has data on the fact that, yes, there really is too much TV. An anonymous reader shares a report: The network, whose CEO John Landgraf coined the idea of "peak TV," has released its unofficial tally of the number of shows on TV, finding that 455 different scripted television series from broadcast, cable, and streaming sources aired in the last year. That's an 8 percent increase from last year, when 421 shows aired on TV; a 71 percent increase from 2011, when a mere 266 shows were on TV; and a 137 percent increase from 2006, when there were 192 shows on TV.
400+ TV channels, Netflix, Amazon Prime etc. and still NOTHING GOOD IS ON
The problem is not quantity, it is quality. It amazes me how many shows that are absolute trash get put out and that is before we have reached these *peak* numbers. Maybe an increase in quantity, we can get new blood to see different or hopefully better shows.
The last thing the world needs is to be locked up with the Michael Bay's of the world because they are too afraid to try anything new or different.
Yet every Canadian broadcaster just takes 15% of them and spreads reruns of them across multiple channels that provide the illusion of variety.
Saying that there is too much TV implies that I should be trying to watch every show on TV. But if different segments of the population watch different types of shows then who cares how many shows there are on TV? That's simply called having a choice.
Unless of course you mean all those "reality" shows that have* to die.
* note that my list of shows that have to die may differ from other peoples lists. But here on /. I'm pretty sure that I can safely say that every damn ghost hunter/big foot hunter/alien hunter etc reality show needs to die a painful death.
I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
The basic issue is there is a war being waged between media companies. The basic issue is that old media companies like the fat checks they get from cable providers but new online services cannot afford to write said fat checks. The result is that online services began creating their own content because it was much cheaper than licensing it. When there was some exclusive hits like on Netflix, old media decided they needed to quash the rebellion by putting out something that is equally as attractive to avoid people jumping ship. Both sides are upping their game so that customers won't be tempted to switch media providers and thus the media company war.
The funny thing is, the old media companies could have avoided all of this if their demands weren't so unreasonable.
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
"90 percent of science fiction is crud because 90 percent of anything is crud."
So to apply that to this number, there are only 45-46 "good" shows to watch.
And this is why a bajillion channels on Cable are useless.
--
BMO
With that kind of diversity who do you market too? There is only so many dollar to spend. So which one gives you the return and which one is wasted money. Especially when a lot of these shows are experimental. Then you have the break out hits on Netflix where there no commercials. Its bleak for advertisers.
You say things that offend me and I can deal with it. Can you?
.
For example, TBS's comedy show People of Earth had only 10 episodes.
Many of the cable-network scripted shows have only 6 to 10 episodes per season.
It is really hard to stop watching TV. I have cut down to 3 shows a week.
I also stopped playing video games, especially on my phone.
These things are a big time-suck, a vacuous hole of waste.
Instead of video games, I have apps that are game-like, but educational. DuoLingo, MemRise, PianoSightReading, etc.
Instead of TV, I practice guitar, bass guitar, piano, and recently, violin. Also I workout and run everyday.
Basically, I am taking my previously wasted time and trying to better myself.
Try looking back. Did it really matter if Gilligan ever got off of that stupid island?
Did Hawkeye Pierce save more people because you tuned in?
Do you care if Al and Peg Bundy's kids ever moved out?
Twenty years from now, will you care if Sheldon every marries Amy?
Will you care if Mike Ross goes to jail or really becomes a lawyer?
Or, in twenty years, will you say, I should have been healthier, I should have read more, I should have learned a language.
- I live the greatest adventure anyone could possibly desire. - Tosk the Hunted
I haven't had subscription cable/satellite for many years. How are ABC, CBS, & NBC faring through all of this? I would think inertia would carry them for some time given their size but that they're sickly otherwise. I can't imagine they compete well given over-the-air decency restrictions and a corporate culture stuck in the 20th century.
FX are *way* under-counting. There are an awful lot more than 455 scripted television shows out there. Hell, there are more than that on YouTube alone.
Their mistake is to assume that something only "counts" as a TV show if it's in standard half-hour-with-ad-breaks format, and it's "broadcast" on something that they recognise as a TV channel. But a looser definition - say, "scripted video content released on a recurring basis" would include literally thousands more, and it's a bad sign for FX that they apparently haven't acknowledged this fact.
What FX are doing is the equivalent of an oil company not realising that they're in the *energy* business (and therefore subject to competition from solar power and the like), or a car company not realising they're in the *transportation* business (and therefore subject to competition from rail, motorcycles and so on). Or perhaps a better comparison is the phone company not realising they're in the *communications* industry, and therefore failing to expand into mobile and internet provision until it was too late.
-- Note to Mods: There is a good reason there's no "-1 Disagree" option. --
Well, since there are only 7 basic plots that's not surprising,
Watch this Heartland Institute video
Sounds dystopian.... half of the population watching the other half waste time....
love is just extroverted narcissism
Please tell me that something is scrambled up in my brain!
I am making an assumption that the average (or mean) TV show is 60 minutes. There are some 30 minute shows. There are even some 15 minute shows (Three Stooges and Popeye are examples) and there are the 2 hour movies. Put the whole shebang together and I believe that the average/mean is 60 minutes.
There are 24 hours per day. Times 7 days per week. That is 160 hours per week.
In the old days (I am 63 years old, so I am talking about my childhood in the 1960's). There were three TV networks, PBS, and maybe one independent TV station. Boston (my childhood home) had two independents; wsbk 38 and wlvi 56.
So, let's be conservative and multiply the 160 hours per week by 4 channels in the average viewing area of my childhood (prior to cable) and you get 672.
So, that's 672 discreet programs/series per week. (Give or take). Now, Slashdot is crying on my shoulders that we have too many shows at 455.
Huh, please help me. I need to cry on Slashdot's shoulders and understand where I f**ked up.
Most Respectfully Yours Mark Allyn Bellingham, Washington
And it's especially bleak when they're paying for advertising that is being "played" to fake users with fake social media profiles visiting fake web sites hosting fake news.
It's good thing that the ads feature products that make fake claims by fake real people for fake results.
Too much, or a large selection? I'm going with option 2
"Science is the power of man"
You're downvoted, but I agree with that on the better cable shows. Many seasons aren't as long as conventional network shows. This is evident in my DVR when shows all start the same but max out at 5 unwatched episodes and I only watched the first one.
The network, whose CEO John Landgraf coined the idea of "peak TV"
I would like to coin the idea of "peak dork"
My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
There are plenty of watchable shows on Netflix and Amazon Prime available anytime. My wife and I enjoy the wide selection. It's true that most is shit. But, with "millions" of choices, there has to something that any one person would enjoy. If you're not sure what to watch, start with The Good Wife, Downton Abbey, Daredevil, Jessica Jones etc. The CW has a lot of very good shows that you can stream online. There is no way that nothing good is available at any time today.
Does that 455 "scripted" shows include all the reality shows and professional wrestling? It should.
"Hooked up 80 channels, and each one stunk" --Al Yankovic, 1992
Sure isn't me! Other than 2-3 weekly comedy or drama shows I watch on the network tv, I either just leave it on MeTv, AntennaTV, Cozi, etc, or just watch a movie from Amazon Prime.
If you look at the graph shown in the article link, it turns out only online scripted shows have increased in the last year. The other 3 media (broadcast, paid cable and basic cable) all actually fell in 2016. Considering online scripted show 2016 quantities only sit half way between paid cable and broadcast quantities, then really all the article should had said is that there's a trend towards more online scripted shows.
literally stated as fact.
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Comment removed based on user account deletion
I agree as long as I am appointed High Commissar of programming.
The number of shows isn't a particularly relevant metric. What matters more is the number of individual episodes, and their durations. A scripted network comedy might be a mere 20 minutes long, compared to, say, an average WestWorld episode that is three times that. Also, network trash typically runs full American-length seasons of 20+ episodes per year, compared with the much shorter runs of British and decent U.S. programmes. I personally think that *more* shows with fewer, longer episodes is the way to go. Drawing out seasons as long as possible results in terrible storytelling.
Nothing good on? Bullshit. Here are the show only on FX in the past year, with their RT ratings:
Atlanta 100%
Fargo 98%
Always Sunny in Philadelphia 97%
Archer 97%
People vs. OJ Simpson 97%
The Americans 96%
Better Things 94%
You're the Worst 92%
Man Seeking Woman 90%
American Horror Story 77%
Baskets 70%
That doesn't count all the great shows on HBO (GoT, Westworld, Insecure), AMC (Better Call Saul, Walking Dead), Netflix (Stranger Things, The Crown), Amazon (Fleabag, Good Girls Revolt), and many others.
Also, RTFA - 455 this year is counting only NEW, SCRIPTED (not reality) shows on TV and OTT services like Netflix and Amazon. There's even a chart. Landgraf knows what he's talking about.
Also, many of you are making his point for him. Nobody wants to pay for this (ie watch commercials or subscribe). Each hour of high end TV (not twitch, not pewdiepie, not unboxing, but real scripted TV that can compete in this landscape) costs roughly $2.5 million. So, I just mentioned roughy 170 hours of content above - that's 425 million dollars. Where is that money going to come from?
Unfortunately, in my experience, it usually means quite the opposite. The more shows are in simultaneous production, the fewer viewers there are per show, on average. This means that more shows means less chance of any given show finding its audience before poor ratings cause the network brass to cancel it. We're already seeing most shows not make it past the first season. Before long, we'll see most shows not make it past the first half season. And the net result will be more content of lesser quality, left unfinished, aborted mid-story-arc by overzealous management who see each show as nothing more than a share number instead of as a creative work that people should want to enjoy over the long term.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
If you think about it, there are LOTS of Facebook accounts that one can count as scripted, watchable stuff.
And so on, and so on, and so on......
Self-importance and self-indulgence is the root of ALL evil.