It’s not just the programming, stupid!
The folks at A.C. Nielsen have responded to network allegations that sloppy research produced this year’s sharp decline young male viewers, and the networks aren’t happy. Interpublic’s Magna Global USA unit analyzed the Nielsen data and came to the conclusion that young men simply aren’t watching network TV as much as they used to. They cited video games, DVDs and the Internet. Steve Sternberg, senior vice president-audience research at Magna cut right to the chase, “It’s the programming, stupid.” Of course, our favorite ostrich, Alan Wurtzel, president-research at NBC, disagrees, “I do think we’ll find out there was something wrong in the methodology.” Isn’t his naiveté cute? The truth is it’s not just the programming. The culture is shifting to one where entertainment is interactive, not passive, and it strikes at the heart of the most passive medium of them all, television.

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