[opendtv] Celebrating the loss of their audience?
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "OpenDTV (E-mail)" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2004 11:44:31 -0400
Craig Birkmaier wrote:
> Viewership of the Emmy Awards has been declining
> precipitously in recent years, as is documented in
> the following Broadcasting and Cable story. Yesterday
> afternoon I heard a report on a network news segment,
> on the radio, with a possible explanation.
>
> According to the reporter, and the B&C story as well,
> the awards have become a celebration for content that
> is now only seen by subscribers to multichannel
> services. The reporter noted that only about 30% of
> U.S. homes subscribe to HBO, which walked off with
> the lion's share of the statues. he then conjectured
> that the reason for the decline in the Enny ratings
> may have something to do with the reality that more
> than two thirds of the audience may have lost interest,
> since they do not get to see the shows that are winning
> the Emmy awards (He did NOT mention that many of these
> shows are available to non-subscribers on DVD).
>
> This seems to be a powerful validation of the positions
> that I have been supporting, relative to the decline in
> network viewing, and the flight of quality content to
> premium distribution.
Flight of quality content to premium services, perhaps.
They did get the awards, for what it's worth. But the
bit about decline in network viewing?
From that reporter's analysis, the awards went to shows
available only as premium packages on multichannel
subscription services (e.g. HBO).
The radio reporter claimed, from your account, that the
reason fewer people watched was that they never see
these premium shows the awards were going to. This can
only mean that the TV audience does not relate to the
premium shows that were winning the awards.
The conclusion I draw is that the TV audience is not
going to premium services at all. "Decline in network
viewing" doesn't follow from this. For example, it's
also possible that the 18 to 49 demographic is more
interested in reality shows than in HBO fare or
anything else the Emmy Awards was going to be
celebrating.
Bert
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