Where You At?

A-ha!

So, I have been incredibly busy playing catch-up with everyone as of late. Just as other writers, we are officially back to work and there has been very little time to reminisce about our prolonged vacation (aka Strike).

With everyone back to work, you should already be experiencing the benefits of your favorite shows returning to the small screen. Even more, your prime reality fare has also returned with shows such as American Idol, America's Next Top Model, and others....

Wait A Minute.
Not sure about you, but I keep up with the ratings. I am always interested in the numbers - yeah, everything resolves to numbers in life. So, my point (Yes, there is one) is one of concern.

The numbers for the popular favorites are slipping and dipping.

Shows such as American Idol (Popular crowd favorite) has seen viewership drop from roughly 40 millions viewers to mere 35 million - Why that's half of the population of Los Angeles (Only kidding).

Further, last week the Tyra Banks beauty vehicle, America's Next Top Model also debuted last week to lower numbers than the previous season.

Even the star studded event the Academy Awards (aka The Oscars) last weekend had record low numbers on Sunday evening's broadcast.

Are You Watching?
Of course, I have many reasons for not viewing the above shows and am more than filled with excuses such as, having a ton of work, busy with phone calls (Of course, that's never ending), back-to-back meetings, toiling on the latest projects and I am sure to think of others...

Admittedly, within a recent post I had mentioned that my interest in America's Next Top Model had significantly waned, apparently your interest has followed suit and the numbers tell the story.

So, let's talk about the impact of new media:
It is quite possible, that maybe we are beginning to see the erosion of a television based audience. Viewers sitting at home gathered around the television set appears to be a dream of the 80's and 90's.

Your television (Our content) is in competition with other forms of information constantly being delivered to you through your TIVO & DVR devices, the Internet and email, On-Demand programming, your Facebook page, your Wii, your iPod, your Blackberry, your iPhone, ET AL. There is no limit to the amount of accessible information through media - we are saturated!

Which brings me back to the point, we are beginning to realize that we need to present bigger, bolder, faster, CREATIVE content and fresh ideas to keep your interests from wandering away from the small screen.

More on this discussion later...

What - No More Cattle Call Programming?
Returning to our subject, quite frankly, there are many other shows on the air in which I have experienced a general lack of interest - Including (But, not limited to) "Cattle Call" dating shows, "Cattle Call" talent shows, "Cattle Call" modeling shows, "Cattle Call" dance competitions...Are you noticing a trend here?

If you are not sure what "Cattle Call" means, it is defined as "An audition in which a large number of often inexperienced actors or performers try out".

You know...This gives me a great (Or, so I believe) idea for a new show - let's title it "Cattle Call", a show where anyone can tryout and audition for anything! Would you be interested in watching?

Perhaps maybe I am saying too much...