Severely Low Ratings Saturday Nights Signal Deeper Issues In Broadcast TV

Nielsen reported an aggregate of 8 million viewers, overall, for “over the air” or broadcast television last night.

In other words, if you combine the programming efforts of all four networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX), the total number of viewers for all four put together, adds up to an audience of 8 million.

That’s a tiny, tiny number.

While Saturdays have long been the lowest rated night of the week, it wasn’t always so.

In 1985, NBC launched The Golden Girls. It drew over 25 million viewers for its first episode, and as the series aged, it averaged about 14.5 million viewers, every Saturday night.

The Golden Girls became the anchor for NBC’s long-term success on the night, helping the network extend its “Must See TV” brand beyond its classic, Thursday night schedule.

NBC was inspired by what’s possible on Saturdays by the CBS network’s effort in the decade prior.

CBS
VIAC
made Saturday night home to several comedies that are now considered classics, such as All In The Fanily, M*A*S*H, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show and The Carol Burnett Comedy Hour.

That night was CBS’ biggest ratings performer for the week, attracting what many would see now as an impossibly high number: an average of over 30 million viewers, every Saturday night.

In its infancy,  the FOX
FOXA
network largely invented its edgy, alternative brand with reality shows airing Saturday evenings, that were revolutionary at the time (devolving into unwelcome notoriety and controversy in later years.) Cops and America’s Most Wanted, routinely attracted 5 million viewers or more with its crime-solving content.

As basic cable and premium cable began airing “cable premieres” of theatrical films in the early 1990s on Saturday nights, the big broadcast networks began to see their numbers fade and then ultimately, plummet.

In what many now consider a self-fulfilling prophesy, the big networks soon after commenced airing re-runs of programs that aired earlier in the week, along with low-cost game shows and imported content, essentially messaging to both the audience and the advertisers that support Saturday night television, that they’d given up on the evening.

Just as Netflix
NFLX
announced massive numbers of viewers for original series like Bridgerton (82 million viewers) and The Queen’s Gambit (over 65 million viewers), networks point instead to workhorses like the 46 year old Saturday Night Live, or the 55 year old Super Bowl, as a reason to continue to believe in the power of broadcast TV.

Why do the legacy networks seem to have thrown in the towel, not only on Saturday night, but generally speaking, with all of their new, scripted TV fare?

The big media companies have been very clear about where their priorities are for the future: streaming.

— ABC’s owner, The Walt Disney Company
DIS
, has Disney+

— CBS is owned by Viacom
VIAB
, soon to launch Paramount+
PGRE

— NBC is owned by Comcast
CMCSA
NBC Universal
UVV
, with just-launched digital streaming alternative, Peacock

— Warner Media has made HBO Max their main media focus, versus their broadcast channel, The CW

— FOX stands alone as a gutty alternative to all of the networks, currently without a streaming owner

Doing a quick inventory, ask yourself: what’s the last new, scripted broadcast show you’ve watched recently that you consider “appointment” television?

As the largest entertainment concerns turn towards the future, what becomes of the platform that acted as the entertainment foundation for TV technology, broadcast television?

Will these channels ultimately focus exclusively on reality TV, sports and news magazines?

Judging from Saturday night’s ratings and the lackluster performance of networks overall, and legacy entertainment brands investing their future into streaming, the question one must ask is: why are the big media companies keeping network TV alive and how long will they continue to do so?