It's Not Going Anywhere

The economy is in bad shape, that’s nothing new to everyone in American. I, personally, had a feeling that this recession was going to have an impact on television. People have bills to pay and a million other expenses popping up and, as a result, are cutting back. Some could say that television is not an essential part of surviving. I, however, might argue that idea, but that’s beside the point. I came across an article on the CNN website from February 24, 2009. TV Viewing at ‘all-time high,’ Nielsen Says busts any myth that television is hurting in lack of time spent in front of the television. The article touches on the fact that people are spending over 151 hours watching TV a month. It seems to me that, despite the cut backs of things deemed unnecessary, entertainment, specifically the television world, hasn’t been hurt terribly. The more I think about this fact, the more sense it makes. People aren’t traveling, dining out, or spending money on the things they would have before. So, what are they doing? Staying home, playing games, watching TV, and doing other less costly activities. It makes perfect sense that viewing hours would go up. Robert Thompson, who is the founding director of Syracuse University’s Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture says that “DVR has helped keep television alive and well.”

This supports the idea that TV viewing is not lagging behind. I feel like, with jobs in the position that they are, people are working as much as they can and, therefore, can’t always catch their favorite programs. Or, there’s the idea that there are so many things to watch and we can’t catch them all. I think one could assume that people are recording programs to watch later with their families, or at times when young children won’t be there to view things unsuitable for them. People are also in multitasking mode and using DVR is their way of keeping up with everything. Just because television is not an absolute need to survive doesn’t mean is doesn’t help us get by in tougher times. If you want to read the whole article, you can go to this link: http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/02/24/us.video.nielsen/.