More technology means less good TV

NEW YORK -- Hey, you, media consumer. You used to be a TV watcher. But an excess of choices has left you changed -- and perhaps spoiled.

Also overwhelmed. There's just too much to keep up with. New media outlets are spreading you thin.

No wonder the 27 series that premiered last fall on the traditional broadcast networks, and all their new shows after that, struggled to win your support. None of the freshmen series was a hit. And nearly 9 percent of prime-time viewers went missing from the year before.

That's the 2007-2008 season in a nutshell for ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and the CW, even as they bravely forge ahead.

There are diminished expectations in the industry. One reason for the networks' audience erosion is the 100-day Hollywood writers strike that disrupted production, made hash of schedules and reminded viewers there are other things to do than watch network TV. Now an actors strike looming at the end of this month could compound the damage.

But consumers' loyalty to broadcast TV was fraying anyway. Media alternatives proliferate and dazzle. There are DVDs, Webcasts, video on demand, iPod downloads and computer games, not to mention dozens of cable channels catering to viwers with more and more specificity.

Many of the overlooked 2007-2008 freshman series will be back next fall. Any other year they would have likely been axed, but the chaos of the writers strike helped win them reprieves.

It's a volatile new world in which TV finds itself, an emerging world where the term "TV viewer" is antique, where you've been reborn as "media consumer."

After four years and counting, the 2004-2005 season stands tall for its towering successes. Premiering that season were the delightfully unfamiliar "Desperate Housewives" and the boldly inaccessible "Lost," as well as the groundbreaking "House" and "Grey's Anatomy." Each a critical and popular phenomenon, they connected with the audience and the zeitgeist. They were embraced by millions who liked surprise more than reassurance.

Can that happen today? Is creative daring at the broadcast networks now concentrated on marketing and content delivery, while the shows themselves just play it safe? The broadcast networks search for revolutionary ways to get in your head. But must their programming be old hat?

With all the media choices at your command, is "familiar" and "accessible" really the way to bring you back? Are you willing to be surprised instead?