We all know that over the past few years streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu have become etched in our daily lives while live television has become obsolete. Streaming services have many pros such as being able to watch whatever you want whenever, and paying a cheaper price. Although I believe the pros of streaming services have greatly aided in their success and the decline of live television, I believe the main reason for the demise of live television is because the channels and shows anymore just suck.
Consumers don't tune in at the live air time of shows anymore. Although this can be caused by numerous factors, I believe some of the most prominent ones are because of decline in quality. We used to have some fantastic shows that have brought in loads of viewers. As an example, American Idol back in 2007 had an average 41 million viewers while this past 2018 season had an average of 8.7 million. That's a 32.3 million viewer decline. American Idol is just one of the shows that lost its quality.
Not only have such shows lost quality because of a lack of original ideas, but even main characters leaving the show. Shows like "Two and a Half Men," "Family Matters," and "That 70's Show" lost prominent characters and just didn't make the show feel as great. Although I haven't watched "Family Matters" until this past year, I got very bored of the show and very quickly once JoMarie Payton left. If I was a viewer in 1990's watching, I would have stopped watching the show once she left.
Shows losing quality and characters aren't the only thing adversely affecting the success of television. Another big reason viewers don't want to tune in anymore is because new shows aren't impressive and we sometimes miss some of our older, favorite shows. For example, I used to LOVE watching TLC and it's shows but now I only tune in on Saturdays to watch "Say Yes To The Dress" and "Four Weddings." I used to always watch TLC no matter the time of day, but now a days all they seem to play is "My 600 Pound Live" and "Dr. Pimple Popper" which are disgusting to me and not in my interest.
Another example is Disney Channel. I'm sure kids today still watch the channel and love the new shows, but if Disney Channel would play some older shows like "That's So Raven" or "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" I bet their views would skyrocket during those times because 90s babies would love to feel the nostalgia (we really are kids at heart you know). I also remember when my peers and I were devastated that shows like "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" and "Make It or Break It" ended. They took away the good shows and replaced them with mediocre ones.
Lastly, the airing schedule of shows anymore has become confusing and annoying. Today shows are taking mid-season breaks or there would be a week here and there they would skip. Just last week I was ready to watch "This Is Us" live and when I turned it on, another show was playing. Sure enough when I looked it up online, they said they were off this week. That left me pretty bummed. It's hard to stick to shows when their schedules are constantly changing and you never know when they'll air again.
At the end of the day, there are many factors that have led to the decline in live television. I believe one of the biggest factors is that it just sucks anymore and no one is doing anything about it. Until cable companies or channels start acting and implementing new strategies, live television will soon be a thing of the past.
