TMC
09-03-2014, 04:32 PM
http://www.vulture.com/2014/08/1994-95-week-opening-essay-ratings-graphic.html
By Josef Adalian
Network TV these days is often used not as a descriptor, but as an epithet: “Oh, that show’s not bad for network TV.” “I can’t believe they gave all those Emmy Awards to network TV shows.” “Who cares about the new fall shows on network TV? When does The Walking Dead come back?” As another television season gets underway this month, broadcast TV finds itself diminished, still enormously profitable, still possessing big hits — and yet struggling to stay culturally relevant in a world where programming choices have become seemingly limitless and platforms of distribution dizzyingly diverse. The Big Four networks — ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox — are hardly dead, and they might not even be dying. They have, however, become shadows of their former selves, gods of the media universe now made flesh. It was not always thus, of course. In fact, it’s not hard to make the case that we’re not far removed from a golden age of network television (http://www.vulture.com/news/1994%9795-tv-week/) that rivaled the much-acclaimed run premium cable has been enjoying in recent years.
By Josef Adalian
Network TV these days is often used not as a descriptor, but as an epithet: “Oh, that show’s not bad for network TV.” “I can’t believe they gave all those Emmy Awards to network TV shows.” “Who cares about the new fall shows on network TV? When does The Walking Dead come back?” As another television season gets underway this month, broadcast TV finds itself diminished, still enormously profitable, still possessing big hits — and yet struggling to stay culturally relevant in a world where programming choices have become seemingly limitless and platforms of distribution dizzyingly diverse. The Big Four networks — ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox — are hardly dead, and they might not even be dying. They have, however, become shadows of their former selves, gods of the media universe now made flesh. It was not always thus, of course. In fact, it’s not hard to make the case that we’re not far removed from a golden age of network television (http://www.vulture.com/news/1994%9795-tv-week/) that rivaled the much-acclaimed run premium cable has been enjoying in recent years.