Below is an interesting video showing the top TV shows each year, as well as the number of viewers (I think it is going through a month at a time) for the period 1986 through 2022. A couple interesting things I noted while watching it.
First, the viewership numbers for a given television program have fallen dramatically. In the latter half of the 1980s, all the top 10 shows had average viewership of over 30 million, and the top 5 had viewership numbers in excess of 40 million (although in 1986, The Cosby Show had over 60 million viewers followed by Family Ties with more than 50 million).
By the mid-90s, the overall numbers per show had dropped with the lower 2 or 3 programs not breaking 30 million, and only the top 2 or 3 exceeding 40 million.
Getting into the 2000s, the majority of programs had viewership below 30 million and only one or two would exceed 40 million. In the 2010s, there were a few shows that would exceed 40 million (and Game of Thrones even broke the 50 million at one point), but the audience numbers for the remainder of the top 10 were generally well below 30 million.
Finally, around 2020, something seemed to break. The majority of top 10 programs were struggling to get more than 20 million viewers and only one or two shows could break the 30 million mark. And by the end of 2022, most of the shows in the top 10 were not even breaking the 20 million viewers mark and none were breaking the 30 million mark.
To look at this in another way, the #10 rated show in 1986 drew an audience of 34 million while the top rated show had an audience of 61 million. At the end of 2022, the #10 rated show was drawing an audience just shy of 15 million and the top rated show was only drawing 25 million.
Second, the type of shows that dominated the top 10 changed. In 1986, 8 of the top 10 shows were situation comedies, and the other two were dramas (a mystery and an evening soap opera). This ratio pretty much held all the way to 1995 when more dramas started making their appearance. But by 2000, just over half (6 programs) were dramas. By 2010, the ratio had completely reversed from 1986, with 8 of the top 10 shows being dramas and only two comedies. Near the end of 2020, the top 10 went completely over to dramas. It looks like a sitcom, Ghosts, made an appearance at the end of 2022 at #10, but it clear that dramas completely dominate television at this point.
Humor requires Truth, so not so popular in 2024.
ReplyDeleteLiberalism is the fear that someone, somewhere, might be feeling joy.
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