22 May Fiction vs. Reality

Twenty years ago, not only were we watching a different set of TV shows—we were watching TV very differently. Back in 1992, we were paying attention to the fictional career travails of Murphy Brown and the travails-in-general of Roseanne. By 2012, both shows were long gone—as was the notion that you have to watch a particular program at a particular time.

Today, Nielsen tracks two sets of ratings: the top prime-time shows and the top time-shifted ones. In prime time, we’re most likely to tune in to football and reality-based fare like American Idol and Dancing with the Stars. The shows we record to watch later tend to be edgy dramas like Mad Men,
Breaking Bad, and Justified.

* Recorded and watched later