Not only that, given the current '80s nostalgia, why not put some of those old shows on DVDs for sale? I think there would be a healthy market for such shows as The Wonder Years, LA Law, and Hill Street Blues.

They are probably busy digitizing them and putting in some product placement. Watch the same show again online a week later and depending on the highest bid the empty coke can on the table changes brands.

I'd add to that Cop Rock, Murder One and the Joeseph McCarthy hearings.

And I could even catch up with The West Wing for I only saw 1/2 of the first show and never watched again. But, perhaps when I'm senile in a nursing home I 'll watch it and maybe understand it as something more than political propaganda. Same for The Commander In Chief.

They're probably worried that putting the old catlogues on line would cannibalize their TV audience. Same fear as with online file sharing/downloading will cannibalize the CD buying market.

Nets might change more than product placements, just read over at Cassandra that ABC cleansed The Ten Commandments to make the story more multi-culti politically correct.

... Same fear as with online file sharing/downloading will cannibalize the CD buying market...

There is scant, if any evidence, this is happening. The drop in the CD market back earlier this decade very closely mirrored the drop in every other leisure-goods item ever marketed. It's like this: I can whip up a mean steak or grill the perfect set of salmon, but I still go out to eat.

This, of course, may not apply to OJ:)

I'll never understand that.

The reason viewership is down is because most network shows on the air right now are crap! Poorly written, poorly acted and poorly conceived. And don't even get me started on the "reality" show fad...

Bartman,

I imagine a scenario in which FOX sells a remastered DVD of '24' that has the terrorists being solely Muslim. I imagine that the sales of the DVD will be out of this world.

Now imagine every show out there that had Soviets as the bad guys and imagine them remastered to show Muslim terrorists to be the bad guys....

Viewership is probably down because of video games, cheap DVDs and the Internet.

There's a lot more entertainment options around these says.

Right on Bartman, pure crap.

actually this is almost a new golden age of tv. there is more decent stuff out there than ever before. with tivo and a satellite feed there is always something available that i want to see. shows i skipped in first run, but like now, provide lots of good viewing too.

the refusal of content companies to make it all available comes down (imo) to having people in charge that have no feeling for the business they are in. they don't like tv, look down on people who do, and consequently are missing out on tons of sales.

it is demonstrable that napster actually increased the music purchases of the people using it. but it threatened a cozy monopoly and so was killed off by the music companies. they will still die, but have succeeded in delaying the final day a bit.

toe, I must agree that there are more good TV shows on now than ever in my memory, and the ability to record them and watch them on our schedule and really ZIP through the commercials has made watching even more enjoyable.

erp: there are two kinds of people in the world, those with tivo, and those without :) now that i don't watch commercials anymore i feel a little bit cut-off from popular culture (in a good way).

Actually, I think we're starting to see the arrival of commercials designed for Tivo: letterbox format, not much action, with the brand name and a toll-free number or website displayed throughout the ad. If you think about it, Tivo users are the one group guaranteed to be staring at the screen during the commercials.

You can create your own 30 second skip button if you know the magic incantation.

Fast forwarding commercials at warp speed and no sound is fun. I've already noticed some attempt at placing commercials where you least expect them. We'll see how this develops.

Like the erstwhile Howard Stern listeners, will we pay for our favorite TV shows when commercials no longer make it profitable to produce television programming, or will we too go missing?

This won't be easily fixed, so a whole new concept will be necessary. It'll be interesting to see what the marketing geniuses come up with.

Next time someone complains about the terrible American economy, ask them to ponder the amount of time and money that we expend on TV & its accoutrements...

Many of the commercials are more interesting then the programs. PBS is worth watching 10% of the time. Broadcast TV is going the way of the print newspapers; circling the bowl.

genecis: thanks for the tivo tip, works great