If young men were behind the big boards at the major networks, chances are the prime-time programming schedules would go something like this:
7-7:30 p.m.: “The Simpsons”
7:30-8 p.m.: “The Simpsons”
8-9 p.m.: “SportsCenter”
9-9:30 p.m.: “Family Guy”
9:30-10 p.m.: “Family Guy”
10-10:30 p.m.: “Seinfeld”
10:30 p.m.-midnight: More “SportsCenter”(ASTERISK)
(ASTERISK) Can be repeated until midafternoon the following day.
No “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.”
Pass on the final seasons of “Friends” or “Frasier.”
Nothing from the lineup of new fall shows.
“It all seems so canned to me,” says John Harbison, 20, of Kansas City. “I’d rather play video games, hang out with friends or even study.”
Harbison has plenty of company. Nielsen numbers indicate that men 18-34 years old are bailing out of the fall TV season in serious numbers, putting the broadcast networks in danger of laying one very expensive goose egg.
The young men say their interest in network TV and cable’s offerings boils down to one of two subjects: sports or “Simpsons.”
“If I’m flipping through the channels during a commercial and run across “The Simpsons” or “Seinfeld,’ I’ll stop there,” says Richard Forsyth, 27, of Alberta, Canada. “Otherwise, I’ll check out some news or see what’s on Comedy Central. Then I’m done with it.”
But this is America. Doesn’t everybody watch umpteen hours of TV a day?
“Video games are big,” says Jim Smith, 20, of Shaker Heights, Ohio. “A bunch of us will gather around and play some (“Madden NFL Football’) before we’ll watch TV.”
The problem with the TV season, the men say, is that it doesn’t relate to them. “Friends,” they say, is more about babies and marriage than it is the single life these days. And, well, most of them don’t really know what “Frasier” is about at all.
“At least with “Seinfeld,’ there was something you could relate to,” says John Posey, 20, of Houston. “I mean “Everybody Loves Raymond’ is about diapers and arguing with your wife. I can’t relate.”
One surprise hit among the young men is “Family Guy,” the animated series that bombed on Fox but has gained new life as part of the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim bloc of over-18-themed ‘toons.
“”Family Guy’ is huge,” says Bobby Wondowski, 20, of Troy, Ill. “It’s just hilarious with all the movie and TV references.”
The young men would rather watch the same thing again and again before flipping.
“You know how they repeat “SportsCenter’ all night over and over? I’ll watch the same “SportsCenter’ two or three times before I’d watch one of those reality shows,” says Jason Dickherber, 19, of Washington, Mo. “There’s too much of that junk. It’s all the same.”
And, for some, TV hasn’t held their interest in a very long time.
“I don’t think I’ve watched much TV since I moved here three years ago,” says Joshua Lawton, 20, a native of London studying history, political science, geography and economics at St. Louis University. “I just don’t much care for American TV.
“And, with four majors, I’ve actually got to study.”
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(c) 2003, St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
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AP-NY-11-28-03 0620EST
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