Issue 9 - North Canton City Schools - sparcc

Cable T.V.
Josh Gory
Staff Writer
Competition
Today, teens have a myriad of entertainment available at their
fingertips: the Internet, cell phones, radio (both broadcast and
digital), ipods and mp3s, DVDs, and, of course, cable TV.
Cable TV boasts several channels and features such as On
Demand and radio TV stations. According to Cabletelevision
Advertising Bureau, cable has traditionally dominated children’s
viewing, yet it is now taking over teens’ viewing as well.
Rachel Tharp, freshman, said she generall watches cable
channels like Discovery Health and MTV. Kirsten Riley,
sophomore, said she mostly watches ABC Family, Lifetime, The
Food Network, and WB. Three out of the four aforementioned
channels are cable channels. Crystal Olsen, sophomore, said her
favorite channel is E!, also a cable channel.
This trend presents a dilemma for Network TV since, according
to Media Life Magazine, network TV ratings have dropped in most
demographics, “but the declines are most pronounced for teens.”
Nielsen (the world’s foremost rating service) ranks “WWE
Wrestling” and “Spongebob Squarepants” as the highest rating
shows on cable television. Junior Matt Reynolds watches wrestling
NICKELODEON/KRT
and said that he watches it “mostly with friends.” Many people,
however, watch TV outside of their homes, according to a
study by the University of Washington, and a show may lose 6
percent in the Nielsen ratings due to this fact.
But according to Media Life Magazine, teens “are turning to
cable TV where programs such as MTV’s ‘Laguna Beach’ and
‘The Real World’ rank among the 20 most watched television
programs in the demo[graphic].”
Many Hoover students watch MTV often. Junior Melanie
Mulig said she “dislikes other channels,” and said she enjoys
watching “The Real World” and other reality programs on
MTV.
In addition to cable, today’s TV viewers have the option of
On Demand service. On Demand channels have either movies
or TV shows that play on the viewer’s TV for a fee, which
may be more appealing to some as opposed to going out to
rent a movie. There are even special subscriptions that offer
movie channels, such as HBO and On Demand for free. Time
Warner’s New Value Packaging is one such subscription plan.
Reynolds’ home has a subscription to such a plan, and he says
that he watches HBO. He finds On Demand convenient.
“You can use it whatever time you want,” said Reynolds,
“and you don’t have to go out. It doesn’t always have everything
you want, but there are still good movies.”
Other students feel differently, and see On Demand as
superfluous, overpriced or bewildering. Steve Donnelly,
senior, said On Demand is “too expensive.” Senior Ryan
Hartman said it is an “unneeded expense.” Tharp said it is “too
complicated.”
In the past year, broadcast networks have seen a 15
percent decline, according to Media Life Magazine. Teens, as
mentioned before, show the most dramatic decline in broadcast
network viewership. According to Media Life Magazine, UPN
is the only network to report any increase, up by 5 percent, and
many others have reported drastic decreases. ABC and Fox
have decreased by 5 percent, CBS is down 11 percent, WB is
down 30 percent, and NBC is down 33 percent.
The Networks may have to change their programming if
they want to attract teens because cable networks’ Discovery
Channel, TBS, Animal Planet, USA, and Nick at Nite reach
more than 60 percent of the teenage audience, according to
Mediavillage.
“I would wathc more [network tv] if it had better
programming,” said Katie Schmidt, senior.
03.24.06 the viking views 23