Network TV is Dead

April 29, 2009 - 3:15 pm By Michael Dance

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Network TV has been dying for years, but in the 2008-2009 which ends this coming month, it finally croaked.  If some of you don’t care, well, no crap.  Did you check out Better Off Ted the other night?  Yeah, me either.

It didn’t used to be like this — networks rolling out dozens of new shows each year only to cancel them four episodes into their runs.  In 1953 — yep, I’m going way back — an episode of I Love Lucy aired that played on 71% of all television sets in the United States.  Just yesterday I heard that ABC is considering renewing Scrubs for a ninth season.  The percentage of television sets tuning into Scrubs in its eighth season?  3.5. (more…)

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