One of the reasons I’ve worked in the Internet so long is the meritocracy of ideas, fostered by its speed and relative lack of structure. Do something too stupid for too long, and you’re done for.

Network TV is, well, different. Joseph Jaffe was smart enough to get out of TV before the whole superstructure came tumbling down (any year now, from my perspective). He’s written a very interesting book called Life After the 30-second Spot, detailing the poor quality of the shows, the business model, and life-expectancy of this now-venerable American institution. I’m about a quarter of the way through, and I’m pleased to see a few of my pet peeves elaborated by someone who knows what he’s talking about (he worked for an ad agency).

The reliance on the Nielsen ratings system (which Jaffe ably dissects, pp. 10-11) by network TV has long resembled a conspiracy of morons, since the ratings measure absolutely nothing except the mendacity of the Nielsen families (and that not very well either, since there’s no control group that doesn’t lie). This has been well-known for a long time, but it’s just the tip of the antenna.

By any measure, network TV viewership has been dropping steeply. When M*A*S*H* produced its final show in 1983, 105 million viewers, or a 77% share, tuned in. For Seinfeld in 1998, it was 77 million, or 58%. For the finale of the ghastly Friends in 2004, it was down to 51 million, or 43%. As Jaffe points out, that’s 34% in 21 years.

So far, I’m pleased that Jaffe doesn’t just blame the inexorable forces of the Internet, he notes that some of the decline is due to the horrific quality of TV. But it’s all part of the same system that treats consumers of TV as if they were sheep to be fleeced, and the advertisers as if they are brain-dead (which they may be). Bad TV, endless commercials that viewers tune out if they watch TV at all, and head-in-the-sand reactions to the Internet spell D-O-O-M.

Jaffe is unhappy that his book hasn’t shot up to the top of the best-seller list, so he offered a free copy to anyone who would review it, an offer I happily took up (not sure if it’s still going). It’s a clever move, and one that shows that he’s ready to put his review copies and postage where his mouth is.

One thought about why this expose hasn’t been as well-read as he would like: it’s so true that no-one even cares that much that network TV is going down the drain. Even before all the money drains out of it, is the demise of network TV in favor of better marketing strategies just old news?

More as I continue this excellent read.

Posted by Antony in: Media + Marketing