Viewers Can Explain Low Ratings

Hooray! Finally data showing that friends, family, neighbors and I are not the only ones who resort to viewing just the news and a few excellent TV shows, then read good literature the rest of the time (“The Latest in TV Reality: a Sharp Drop in Viewers,” Oct. 26).

We have become so disgusted with prime-time offerings that have degraded into slime, filth or dirty words. And how could anybody be so out of touch with the majority to believe that reality shows are going to gain viewers?

Perhaps there is hope that when the sponsors demand a refund for the drop in viewer numbers, the network wonks will wake up and try for what got TV so ingrained in our family time. They should go back and watch old classics to see how they managed to get the story line to hold interest without the nastiness.

Annette “Suzie” Karrer

Ridgecrest

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I’m surprised that everyone is wondering why people are increasingly not watching network TV, particularly males. I’m one of those males.

Watch any half-hour network show, and the low-level blizzard of propaganda against straight, white males is often overwhelming. The wife is always smart, the husband is always an idiot -- that sort of thing.

When the media celebrate and glorify such bozos as Michael Moore, the rest of us “Stupid White Males,” as he refers to us, are going to shut the media off.

Michael Forrest

Huntington Beach

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I can’t answer for most people, but I can share what happened in our family. Our TV was getting old and the large-screen TVs were getting cheaper, so we bought one. It has a beautiful picture.

I had expected we would watch more TV or maybe the same amount. Surprise! Suddenly we were watching less.

The screen makes TV shows seem more like movies. As a result, the commercials actually cut the flow of the show, instead of just being “white noise.” It isn’t that the commercials are inane, or smart or whatever; it is that they destroy the flow of the story we are trying to watch, and it became a painful experience.

Our viewing became more selective. If there is nothing we can watch without fearing a break in the flow, we do other things.

Amy Davis

Anaheim

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It is no wonder viewers are beginning to drop off. When a network has a successful night, the programmers simply cannot leave well enough alone.

They move a program to another night and pair it with a new show or a clunker, hoping that the popular show will pull in viewers to take in the other.

The viewer now has to change viewing habits to see the show that has been moved -- and it just may be that the viewer enjoys a different show on a different network on that particular night. Leave the successful show where it is.

Bob Todd

Newport Beach

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Funny, as the network executives sit there wringing their hands and scratching their heads wondering why on Earth millions of Americans are tuning out “Friends,” “ER” and “Monday Night Football,” I gleefully clap my hands rejoicing. Yea! People are getting lives.

Charlene A. Richards

Culver City