ABC/CBS/NBC..death?

[RobertScorpio]

With competition from internet, games, and online movies, how much longer do you think network tv as we know it will last? Shrinking audience shares are the norm..and they have been losing ground for a decade...

ABC was spawned from NBC in the late 50s. I could easily see two of the networks merge down the line. NBC/ABC would be a good fit. CBS/FOX the other..

Anyway..I give network TV as we know it 15 years, twenty tops, and then its over...

Rob
Scorpio

 

[Non Sync]

Merging the networks would require either a major change in the number of stations any one broadcasting company could own or they would have to sell a good chunk of top market stations.

Actually, they've been loosing ground for more than a decade but they've still hung on. I wouldn't count them out yet.

There has long been talk about the demise of AM radio, but it's still alive and kicking.

 

[RoJoHen]

I would be fine with CBS dying. Aside from football, there is nothing worth watching, and any of the other networks could pick up their football broadcasts.

 

[Gil T.Azell]

What did Data say about TV in the neutral zone, something about it not last past the mid 21 century?

 

[LutherSloan]

They will probably survive longer than we think. I figure FOX will be the last to go.

 

[Teelie]

For them to survive would require them to change their formats again and become more creative. Their efforts so far have only staved off the losses from being worse. The ever shortening of the episodes for commercials, the commericals in the episodes (where up to 25% of the screen is an advertisement on the bottom) are definitely not the way to keep the audiences coming back.

It's certainly possible they can keep going on but not at this rate and not in the direction they've been heading.

 

[Jax]

CBS are in no danger and have only felt a little of the drop in audience this year, however an ABC/NBC joined network while unlikely is not impossible if the current trend follows but I see FOX staying on there own and CW going away though maybe WB could return on its own.

 

[TemporalFlux]

TV isn't going away; it's simply going to change its delivery method. Instead of having a separate cable / satellite broadcast, it will just all be broadcast through the internet. We'll have more "on demand" options; DVR will become the norm; etc. This won't even really affect the cable and satellite companies as they are already offering their own internet packages; the companies are ready for the switch.

The only thing that's going to die is the Nielsen ratings system. Nielsen is now almost completely useless as a guide to advertisers, and Nielsen doesn't seem to care too much about making themselves useful in the changing market. As it is, it's dead simple to see true and honest ratings in an internet distribution format; every view, download, minutes watched, etc. can and is meticulously recorded as a true measure of interest and viewership.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

I would be fine with CBS dying. Aside from football, there is nothing worth watching, and any of the other networks could pick up their football broadcasts.

Not true. NCIS, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother and 2 And a Half Men are all worth watching.

 

[Warp Coil]

TV isn't going away; it's simply going to change its delivery method. Instead of having a separate cable / satellite broadcast, it will just all be broadcast through the internet. We'll have more "on demand" options; DVR will become the norm; etc. This won't even really affect the cable and satellite companies as they are already offering their own internet packages; the companies are ready for the switch.

The only thing that's going to die is the Nielsen ratings system. Nielsen is now almost completely useless as a guide to advertisers, and Nielsen doesn't seem to care too much about making themselves useful in the changing market. As it is, it's dead simple to see true and honest ratings in an internet distribution format; every view, download, minutes watched, etc. can and is meticulously recorded as a true measure of interest and viewership.

I agree with this to a certain extent. The internet has permanently changed the face of broadcast television. The major broadcast networks cannot rely on just airing new episodes on television and running advertisements. Consumers have so many options - a lot of people aren't watching TV at specific times on specific days anymore. They're recording to DVR, streaming online, downloading from iTunes, or watching on DVD.

Consumers still want their favorite shows - I imagine society would get quite angry if they didn't have access to their shows somehow - but how people choose to watch them is making the major networks re-think how they do things. The Nielsen rating system is completely obsolete now, and is starting to become less relevant.

 

[TedShatner10]

CBS are in no danger and have only felt a little of the drop in audience this year, however an ABC/NBC joined network while unlikely is not impossible if the current trend follows but I see FOX staying on there own and CW going away though maybe WB could return on its own.

CBS is strong and successful like America, but like America between 2000-08, is run by a complete idiot.

And disrupting shows for vapid advertisment and cancelling popular shows because the demographs are supposedly wrong for the sponsor is rightly seen as a self-defeating strategy.

 

[Sheliak]

The peacock has been singing its swan song for a while now.

It's what happens when you have no respect for the Church, consistently.

NBC's journalism is the only silver lining. Sadly Tim Russert is gone now. Chuck Todd, Rachel Madcow, et al. have sold their souls. Even SNL is flailing like a fish.

NBC should do a full blown series on the era of Christian persecution under Rome before Mel Gibson steals the show. Perhaps it would revive the ratings. Rockefeller Center is too nice a place to let fall into ruins.

Gladiator was too chicken and way too dark, but Star Wars Attack of the Clones hinted at it very successfully.

It's a gold mine yet untapped, and probably more sex, politics, religion and violence than anyone can handle. It would take some historical research and a serious effort to respect the truth which at least CBS and ABC are honest about.

It would be sad to see another cradle of Star Trek torn down or worse, ignored.

Lastly, let us thank NBC for keeping the Buchanan Brigade alive.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

The networks will have to develop new revenue streams, that's all. The old Nielsen broadcast model is dying. But there are plenty of other ways to make folks pay for the TV shows they watch.

Markets always change, and TV is no exception.

The only thing that's going to die is the Nielsen ratings system.

The Neilsens company will adapt to the new revenue streams. Their business is to help the people who make TV shows figure out what TV shows are worth and to whom. The need to know that will only increase as the revenue streams get more complicated. If there are third parties (advertisers) in the mix, there will always be a need for an objective mediator in the system because there's no way advertisers will let networks tell them what the shows are worth. That's the fox (heh FOX) guarding the henhouse.

What will die is the simple method of getting TV shows to pay their way by inducing viewers to sit still for ads every 15 minutes. That technique is dying out and needs to be replaced. There will be more ads in shows, including product placement, where they can't be zapped. TiVO ensures that development. Also more paid downloads and more dependence on DVD sales.

As it is, it's dead simple to see true and honest ratings in an internet distribution format; every view, download, minutes watched, etc. can and is meticulously recorded as a true measure of interest and viewership.

True, but as an advertiser I would not trust the networks to tell me the truth. They have a motive to lie, since inflating the numbers gets them more money. Some other entity will have to be the arbiter.

In situations where viewers directly pay the networks, then you can dispense with the arbiter.

 

[Lord Garth]

ABC was spawned from NBC in the late 50s. I could easily see two of the networks merge down the line. NBC/ABC would be a good fit. CBS/FOX the other.

NBC and CBS began their television networks in 1946 and ABC actually started as a television network in 1948, the same year DuMont started.

DuMont crumbled in 1955, then it was just the Big Three. Though, until the latter-half of the '70s it was really The Big Two and ABC.

ABC radio was created from NBC radio in 1943. The radio networks for NBC and CBS were founded in 1926 and 1927 respectively.

 

[TGTheodore]

I've been hearing about the "death of the networks" for 15 years now.

They'll be around for 15 more at least. It seems the glut of basic cable "networks" have been dropping in ratings much more than the Big Three.

--Ted

 

[Dusty Ayres]

I would be fine with CBS dying. Aside from football, there is nothing worth watching, and any of the other networks could pick up their football broadcasts.

But you know that means the end of Paramount Television, and quite possibily Star Trek as well?

 

[clint g]

My guess is that there will be merger of Television/TV sometime in the future. One of the big knocks against TV in general is that you have to follow their schedule to watch. I bet in the future people will just stream and use a large monitor as the equivalent to their television. You already see it happening with newer TVs coming with VGA/DVI ports and with computers being HDMI capable. if people want higher quality shows (like HD video) they can pay 2 bucks (sort of like how you can rent/DL videos on Xbox live) a viewing or subscribe to the network and get unlimited access to said show (like with on demand television). We already see these things ahppening, its just a matter of time before it all gets unified onto one platform as opposed to being spread amongst different platforms (Computer/youtube, Xbox Live/PSN, on-demand cable)

 

[Hitman]

The only change I foresee is the networks being content makers only and dropping the broadcast part.

 

[RoJoHen]

I would be fine with CBS dying. Aside from football, there is nothing worth watching, and any of the other networks could pick up their football broadcasts.

But you know that means the end of Paramount Television, and quite possibily Star Trek as well?

Star Trek has had a better run than any other show/movie series in existence.

I'll get over it.

 

[ialfan]

I would be fine with CBS dying. Aside from football, there is nothing worth watching, and any of the other networks could pick up their football broadcasts.

But you know that means the end of Paramount Television, and quite possibily Star Trek as well?

Star Trek has had a better run than any other show/movie series in existence.

I'll get over it.

With the possible exception of Law and Order, Dr. Who or James Bond you would be correct.