Strike not to blame for drop in TV viewership

When viewers do tune in, it's increasingly on their own schedule, whether that's the result of renting an entire season of a show on DVD or just waiting a few days before watching a program recorded on DVR.

"The strike accelerated a fact of reality, that people are just choosing to watch shows when they feel like it," said Maureen Ryan, The Chicago Tribune’s TV critic. "People are really falling out of the habit of watching something on a weekly basis."

Yet what people watch on a weekly basis is exactly what ratings measure. Do they even matter in an era of iTunes, online streaming, DVDs and DVRs?

Ironically, the strike occurred in part because people are watching less television on their TV sets, and writers demanded a share of profits from current and future distribution on new platforms.

"We're headed for a make-your-own-pizza video world," said TV Guide's Rhodes. "How many people happen to be watching NBC or Showtime at 9 p.m. on Thursday will be the least important statistic, virtually meaningless. Which is why the writers’ strike had to happen. Residual checks will continue to shrink. The revenue will all be from downloads."

Slideshow   Celebrity sightings Blake Lively takes in the "Sherlock Holmes" premiere, Keira Knightley makes her stage debut, Snoop Dogg cooks up brownies with Martha Stewart and more. more photos

New media has yet to replace old media in part because, as the St. Petersburg Times’ Deggans said, "there's nothing like sitting back in front of your 46-inch HD television." However, he said new platforms can be "bellwethers" that "reveal the hidden value of shows."

"The hope the networks have is that these other platforms will end up feeding viewers. ... Everybody knows that some form of digital media is going to be a huge player in the future of television, and you have to be ready for that," he pointed out.

Ratings still matter
Ratings may no longer completely measure TV viewership, but they are still critical to networks because they prove a show's value to its advertisers, who pay the bills.

"Right now, certainly one of the most important uses of Nielsen information is to help in negotiations between buyers and sellers for advertising," Nielsen’s Elliot confirmed.

Deggans said TV critics "judge the value of a show to a network that's putting it on," and "ratings can help tell you that. I think ratings can help tell you when the public is getting tired of something." Still, he cautions that they "can't be the only yardstick you use."

Even though Nielsen now tracks DVR usage, reporting how many people watch a show the day it airs (known as "live plus same day"), within three days ("live + 3"), or within seven days ("live + 7"), advertisers may not care if viewers saw their ads a week later.

"From what I've heard from some executives, live + 7, or even live + 3 is not as valuable as plain old live ratings because their thinking is if you didn't watch 'Grey's Anatomy' live, you didn't see the ad for the Patrick Dempsey (movie)," Ryan said.

However viewers watch TV, ultimately, only one thing really matters: Network executives "are just paranoid about losing that ad money. That's what drives the train," Ryan said. "Everything we feel emotionally tied to, it's all about making money."

Andy Dehnart is a writer who publishes reality blurred, a daily digest of reality TV news and analysis.

MORE FROM TELEVISION OPINIONS

40 years of diversity on ‘Sesame Street’

40 years of diversity on ‘Sesame Street’ Is Leno’s 10 p.m. experiment nearing an end? TV snobs are wrong about ‘Two and a Half Men’ For ‘Big Bang’s’ Sheldon, the nerd is the word Sykes and late night TV’s new color barrier Proudly un-hip, ‘NCIS’ still tops ratings Monty Python the original kings of gore ‘Glee’ has rabid fans, but they deserve better Newsweek: Is 'FlashForward' the next 'Lost'? Newsweek: 5 flagging TV shows that need to end   Add Television Opinions headlines to your news reader: