DVD & The Decline of Television (1 Viewer)

[Sean Campbell]

Has anyone else found that since becoming a dvd collector, their interest in broadcast television has declined? Back in the mid to late 90s I would watch every sci-fi show that came along and stuff like Babylon 5 and the X Files would be watched each and every week without fail. However, since I started collecting DVDs in 1999 I've noticed that my broadcast television viewing habits have declined to the extent where aside from news and the odd documentary, I haven't watched any tv shows in over three years. I've watched plenty of vintage tv on dvd, but virtually nothing broadcast. It seems that I'm far more inclined to put on a dvd than flick through the channels to see what's on.
Anyone else?

 

[Brent M]

There are still a lot of TV shows that I enjoy. The Sopranos, 24, Alias, The Apprentice, Survivor and Curb Your Enthusiasm are my "appointment TV" shows that I watch every week.

 

[David James]

This may say more about your opinion of current TV shows then about the DVD phenomenon.

 

[R Benson]

I agree. My TV watching has been drastically reduced, but I blame it on the multitude of "Reality" shows. I refuse to watch any of this Crap! There just is nothing to watch anymore.

 

[ScottCor]

I would agree that I have steered away from TV but not because of DVD..I can't stand Reality shows ,and they have become such a large part of TV these days that it's just turned me off. I also kind of got fed up that every time I would find a show I did like it would be canceled before or at the end of the first season..Nowhere Man ,Brimstone etc..got to the point where I didn't want to invest the time into TV anymore. I would agree with the above poster, it's more about what your tastes are I think.

 

[Eric Paddon]

I made my break with network TV shows in 1989 which tells you right away that DVD had nothing to do with it!

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

I don't even have cable anymore. With no hockey, what else is worth watching on TV?

 

[JohnAP]

Considering how popular tv shows on dvd have become, I would hardly say that dvd is hurting the television business. It seems like what sells best are the more high quality programs (Sopranos, Buffy, etc.) and reality shows have almost no market on dvd. Perhaps that will be an incentive to produce more original programming...or perhaps I'm just thinking wishfully.

There's always going to be a select few shows I can't miss. Right now its Lost and Arrested Development. Check them out, the latter's already on dvd.

 

[Ira Siegel]

Interesting point, Sean.
About 30 years ago the same amount of programming time devoted today to the unscripted "whose going to lose today" shows (mistakenly called "reality tv") was devoted to . . . . . . MOVIES.
So, it is no surprise that auto-programming is replacing any evening loaded with unscripted shows. In the last 10 days my 12 year old daughter and I together saw MY GIRL, MY GIRSL 2, SPIDER-MAN 2, GONE WITH THE WIND, THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, GUNGA DIN and THE BIG SLEEP. (I'm not bragging about the movies I watch. I'm bragging that my daugter digs them.)

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

I'd say it is helping the television industry and I don't suspect it will be too much longer before we start to see television shows geared towards DVD above anything else. I think that David Lambert over at TVShowsOnDVD.com mentioned the possibility of a direct to DVD release of tv shows in the future, but my memory on that is a bit fuzzy.

Anyway, as to the question DVD has cut in to my television time a little bit. But, bad programming has cut in to it a lot more. I watch sports, news shows, and Joey and that's it. Simpsons I never seem to be home for and a few other shows I'll watch if I remember but usually I'm doing other things.

 

[Michael Bailey]

Not only have DVDs lowered my appetite for TV but I now rarely go out to the cinema either. So few of the theaters in my area are set up well.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I've aready been through this phase of dvd collecting. Over the years however I just eased into splitting my dvd time and television time. Their are shows that I must watch when they're on, Fear Factor, Las Vegas, Desperate Housewives, King of the Hill and last but not least Monk.

However, having said that, their is one tv show that I refuse to watch except on dvd and that is Smallville for two reasons...

1. I just got into it last year via my friend loanig me his season 1 dvd's to me. I don't watch the show on tv because i'm not at that point yet, I want to reach that point through natural progression. You could ask "why not watch the reruns to catch up?" well...

2. Quality. I am so used to how beautiful the show looks on dvd (especially on a 96" screen) that I refuse to see it any other way, and I don't yet have HD. Plus, being the do-or-die OAR purist that I am, as soon as I found out that the show was protected for 1.78:1, that pretty much eliminated any chance of watching it on tv, it's presented wrong.

I love dvd, but their are shows that I can't resist watching.

 

[Ira Siegel]

John, you write:
Hmmm, do you mean John that if a theatrically shown movie was protected for a full frame transfer, it is presented wrong in the theaters?

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Ira,
I assume you mean a film was composed for 1.33:1 but shown at 1.85:1 in theaters? If so than the answer is yes. I would skip that film until I could see it as intended, at 1.33:1.

I believe in preserving the filmmakers original intent and composition.

 

[Rob T]

During the summer, I don't watch much TV, but during the rest of the year DVD watching comes 2nd to watching new episodes of the shows that I like.

 

[GeorgePaul]

I haven't noticed an appreciable decline in my TV viewing habits, but I HAVE wondered much, much more how the network talking heads can spew out so much hype about their generally worthless programming with a straight face.

I SHOULD be watching much less TV, though--not so much because of DVD than because of all those damned network promos, which are becoming more and more intrusive by the year. It's usually just movies, "Simpsons" or news for me anymore on television.

 

[Glenn Overholt]

I have to take the middle ground. 30 years ago we didn't have too many choices - that was before CATV and VHS. Yikes!

TV has a lot more competition today, yet overall I don't see any improvement. Can I say that it has gone downhill only because I am (and can get) more picky about what I watch?

IMO, I think that some shows on today are better than just about anything that I have ever seen before. Right now, it is 'Lost' and '24'. Most of the rest are just carbon copies of shows that have been on before. After awhile, it gets a little hard to come up with something that hasn't been done before.

The game shows that were on a few years ago sucked, and the reality shows are even worse. I hate to see what they are going to get into next.

Sure, we may be watching less of what is on live, but the tube is still glowing! We just have a lot more choices now.

Now, if we are watching less, can someone please tell me why advertising costs keep on going up year after year - with fewer and fewer people watching? Oh, and why are we paying for it?

Glenn

 

[Jason Kirkpatri]

I refuse to pay the cable company for worthless crap. I use an antena to pick up two of the local four stations (the other two don't receive worth a darn).

Fortunately, the two stations that I can pull in have all my TV watching content:

Local news at six.
Monday Night Football.

Good enough for me.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

I moved into my flat in March and I still haven't got around to installing a TV aerial. So, no broadcast TV for 3/4 of a year and I haven't missed it at all. The TV shows that interest me - stuff like The Office and Little Britain, I just buy on DVD.

 

[Rich Malloy]

Yes. That is, until three months ago. Three months ago I got HDTV. Now, my interest in DVD has declined proportionally to my interest in HDTV broadcasts.