Where did the TV viewers go?

In TV’s worst spring in recent memory, a startling number of Americans drifted away from television the past two months. The AP reports.

"More than 2.5 million fewer people were watching ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox than at the same time last year, statistics show.

Millions of missing viewers could translate into millions of missing dollars for the networks heading into the up-front sales season.

Everyone has a theory to explain the plummeting ratings: early Daylight Savings Time, more reruns, bad shows, more shows being recorded or downloaded or streamed.

Scariest of all for the networks, however, is the idea that many people are now making their own television schedules.

... "If we continue to do business assuming people will “ will watch television as they always have," said NBC’s Neil Wurtzel, "it’s a dead-end game.”

emily | 6:20 PM | The threat to big Media |
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