The list of memorable characters and personalities who entered popular culture through cable television is long: Honey Boo Boo. Tony Soprano. Lizzie McGuire. Don Draper. Jon Stewart. Beavis and Butt-Head. Chip and Joanna Gaines. SpongeBob SquarePants.
Pick your own favorites. Chances are there won香蕉视频直播檛 be many more to join them.
Few cable and satellite networks are a force anymore, the byproduct of sudden changes in how people entertain themselves. Several have lost more than half their audiences in a decade. They香蕉视频直播檝e essentially become ghost networks, filling their schedules with reruns and barely trying to push toward anything new.
Says Doug Herzog, once an executive at Viacom who oversaw MTV, Comedy Central and other channels: 香蕉视频直播淭hese networks, which really meant so much to the viewing public and generations that grew up with them, have kind of been left for dead.香蕉视频直播�
As they fade, so are the communities they helped to create.
WHAT HAS BEEN LOST?
Pockets of success remain, notably with lifestyle and news programming. And it香蕉视频直播檚 not like there香蕉视频直播檚 nothing to watch. You香蕉视频直播檒l find more options on Netflix than a diner menu.
Yet something undeniably has been lost. Stewart香蕉视频直播檚 to Comedy Central香蕉视频直播檚 香蕉视频直播淭he Daily Show香蕉视频直播� this winter only begs the question: Did it really have to be this way?
Cable TV primarily took flight in the 1980s, breaking the iron grip of ABC, CBS and NBC. Essentially the first fragmentation of media, cable brought people with common interests together, says Eric Deggans, NPR television critic.
香蕉视频直播淧eople who were previously marginalized by the focus on mass culture suddenly got a voice and a connection with other people like them,香蕉视频直播� Deggans says. 香蕉视频直播淪o young music fans worldwide bonded over MTV, Black people and folks who love Black culture bonded over BET, middle-aged women bonded over Lifetime and fans of home remodeling convened around HGTV and old-school TLC.香蕉视频直播�
Nickelodeon and Disney became de facto baby sitters. CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC changed the nation香蕉视频直播檚 political discourse. ESPN occupied sports fans. HBO and Showtime, and later networks like FX and AMC, offered edgier fare that broadcasters shied away from.
Networks were endlessly malleable, too. Once MTV recognized there wasn香蕉视频直播檛 much money in music videos 香蕉视频直播� people would change channels when a song they didn香蕉视频直播檛 like came on 香蕉视频直播� the network became a . Generations had their own touchstones in programs like 香蕉视频直播淧unk香蕉视频直播檇,香蕉视频直播� 香蕉视频直播淭he Osbournes香蕉视频直播� and 香蕉视频直播淭otal Request Live.香蕉视频直播�
Now MTV is a ghost. Its average prime-time audience of 256,000 people in 2023 was down from 807,000 in 2014, the Nielsen company said. One recent evening MTV aired reruns of 香蕉视频直播淩idiculousness香蕉视频直播� from 5 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.
The general interest USA Network香蕉视频直播檚 nightly audience tumbled 69% in the same time span, and that was before January香蕉视频直播檚 announcement that viewer-magnet 香蕉视频直播淲WE Raw香蕉视频直播� was .
Without favorites like 香蕉视频直播淭he Walking Dead香蕉视频直播� or 香蕉视频直播淏etter Call Saul,香蕉视频直播� AMC香蕉视频直播檚 prime-time viewership sunk 73%. The Disney Channel, birthplace to young stars like Miley Cyrus, Hilary Duff and Selena Gomez, lost an astonishing 93% of its audience, from 1.96 million in 2014 to 132,000 last year.
TBS, TNT, History, Lifetime, FX, A&E, BET, E! Entertainment, SyFy, Comedy Central, VH1 and Discovery have all lost at least half of their 2014 audience.
For many, most of the schedules are big blocks of reruns: 香蕉视频直播淪einfeld香蕉视频直播� and 香蕉视频直播淭he Office香蕉视频直播� on Comedy Central, 香蕉视频直播淭he Big Bang Theory香蕉视频直播� and 香蕉视频直播淵oung Sheldon香蕉视频直播� on TBS. Tyler Perry movies dominate. Cheap and cheesy nonfiction fills time: 香蕉视频直播�90 Day Fiance,香蕉视频直播� 香蕉视频直播淧rison Brides,香蕉视频直播� 香蕉视频直播淢arried at First Sight,香蕉视频直播� 香蕉视频直播淐ontraband: Seized at the Border.香蕉视频直播�
That香蕉视频直播檚 not appointment TV. It香蕉视频直播檚 accidental. Ghosts.
MAYBE GOING DOWN THIS ROAD WAS INEVITABLE
With the explosion of Netflix, the giant companies that dominate the entertainment industry saw that as the future. To a large extent, they香蕉视频直播檝e concentrated time, energy and resources on these services, launching a competition that still hasn香蕉视频直播檛 shaken out 香蕉视频直播� no one knows yet how many streaming services the market will support and which ones will survive.
Was the downfall of cable the inevitable result? 香蕉视频直播淭hat香蕉视频直播檚 the gazillion-dollar question,香蕉视频直播� Herzog says.
香蕉视频直播淭he conglomerates, they definitely jumped the gun, I think, in shifting their assets away from the cable networks and left them as zombies,香蕉视频直播� says Michael Schneider, television editor at Variety. 香蕉视频直播淭hey香蕉视频直播檙e paying the price.香蕉视频直播�
In 2015, some 87% of American homes had a cable or satellite television subscription, according to the Nielsen company. By 2023, only 47% of homes subscribed. If you include services like Hulu or YouTube TV, the percentage of homes with access to multiple channels was 62% last year, Nielsen said.
If fewer people have cable, then obviously fewer are watching. But it香蕉视频直播檚 a classic chicken-and-egg situation: Have the number of subscribers dropped because people feel the networks have less to offer? Or is less being offered because there are fewer viewers?
To illustrate how fast habits are changing, a survey taken in January by the digital marketing agency Adtaxi found that 73% of viewers turned to streaming before cable or broadcast when they sat down to watch TV. Only a year earlier, 42% said streaming was their default choice.
Much of what people stream are programs originally on broadcast and cable. That provided a windfall hard to resist for creators of those shows, one top executive said. The tradeoff was getting people accustomed to a different kind of viewing experience 香蕉视频直播� watching what they wanted, when they wanted it, even binging. All without the distraction of commercials, at least at first.
Remember couch potatoes? Channel surfers? Now the 香蕉视频直播� 香蕉视频直播� generation has taken over.
That香蕉视频直播檚 more than trading descriptive phrases. Reclining before a big screen with a remote control, searching for something to do, is an activity fading with the times, says John Landgraf, chairman of FX Content & Productions and a big-picture thinker of the media industry. It was Landgraf who to describe an overwhelming flood of television programming.
Streaming is more pro-active, he says. Tik-Tok, YouTube and gaming are supplanting television in occupying people who are simply looking to fill some time. 香蕉视频直播淭hey figured out passivity,香蕉视频直播� Landgraf says. He says he香蕉视频直播檚 optimistic FX香蕉视频直播檚 parent, Disney, will solve this puzzle.
That香蕉视频直播檚 no small thing when the industry is built upon advertisers who pay to reach those consumers 香蕉视频直播� active or passive.
While streaming offers viewers the convenience of making their own schedules, its algorithms are designed to push people into ever-smaller circles, suggesting programming similar to what they香蕉视频直播檝e already watched before, Landgraf said. It further lessens the opportunities for communal viewing experiences, or stumbling upon something that broadens your outlook.
香蕉视频直播淐ollectively,香蕉视频直播� he says, 香蕉视频直播渨e香蕉视频直播檝e lost something.香蕉视频直播�
THE ROAD TO STREAMING 香蕉视频直播� AND TO THE FUTURE
Landgraf香蕉视频直播檚 FX is one of the few companies keeping its brand strong while making a transition to streaming. 香蕉视频直播淭he Bear,香蕉视频直播� which for best comedy, is an FX show but available exclusively on the Hulu streaming service. 香蕉视频直播淎merican Horror Story香蕉视频直播� is on the actual FX television network. Several shows toggle between both.
HBO is also making the transition well, while Bravo programming is a strong draw for Peacock. Nickelodeon and MTV are among the brands having a harder time; S&P Global last week put their parent company, Paramount, on a negative credit watch, citing 香蕉视频直播渢he deterioration of the linear television ecosystem.香蕉视频直播�
There are still networks keeping the light on. Fox News Channel is cable香蕉视频直播檚 top-rated network; news-oriented outlets thrived during the Trump administration but have faded recently. HGTV香蕉视频直播檚 home remodeling holds up. The Hallmark Channel, with wholesome stories aimed at older women, averaged 929,000 viewers in prime-time last year, up 12 percent from a decade ago.
Despite the exodus of viewers, ghost networks survive because they still make money for their owners. Cable and satellite systems pay fees to carry them 香蕉视频直播� passed on to consumers, of course 香蕉视频直播� and advertisers buy commercials.
When that changes, all bets are off, and odds are the ghosts will move on.
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