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Poll: Public says TV is getting worse
By David Bauder
Associated Press
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NEW YORK -- Terrie Williams doesn't know anything about what's coming up in this fall's new television season. And she's fine with that.

Williams, a mother of four from Richmond Park, Ill., is among the 62 percent of Americans who say that TV programs are getting worse, according to a poll by The Associated Press and AOL Television. Only 22 percent said they are getting better.

"They didn't curse on TV like they do now," said Williams, 38. "My daughter is 19 and I am still uncomfortable watching things with her. It's all about sex, sex, sex."

TV networks seem more interested in separating people to watch different sets around the house instead of bringing families together, said Williams, who has fond memories of watching "The Waltons" long ago.

The likelihood of people believing TV is getting worse increases with age, the poll found. Nearly three-quarters of people aged 65 and over believe that - not surprising with most networks relentlessly chasing the youthful demographic that advertisers pay a premium to reach.

Television historian Tim Brooks cautioned that there may be a "good old days" effect at work in those poll results - people who give a rosy tint to the past. Many critics believe that because there are so many channels now, there are a lot more good things to choose from.

"It's indicative of the love affair that people have with television," said Brooks, a Lifetime executive. "As with the people you're closest to, you're always complaining. Complaining in a loving way, of course."

That doesn't mean networks should dismiss these poll results, especially now that people have so many entertainment choices, he said.

Eugene King, a designer from Philadelphia, may typify what Brooks means. King, 51, agreed that television isn't what it used to be, yet can tick off all the things he likes to watch: "This Old House," "Masterpiece Theater," science fiction programs, even Jerry Springer ("You know it's a bunch of crap, you know it's coming, so you deal with it," he said).

He's aware enough to cite a specific new show - NBC's "Journeyman" - that he's eager to see. When pollsters asked which new shows people are most looking forward to seeing this fall, only 7 percent could name one.

King said he's tired of cop and forensics shows, can't stand game shows and is tired of constant envelope-pushing.

"They're trying to be as dirty as they can be, or as dirty as they can get away with," he said.

Midwesterners are most likely to think TV shows are getting worse, the poll found. And a startling 85 percent of white evangelical Christians who attend church at least once a week said TV is going downhill.

The poll found 71 percent of Americans believe there are too many reality shows on television, but that's actually an improvement from the 80 percent who said the same thing in an AP-TV Guide poll in 2005. And here's a caution for CBS: 9 percent of respondents spontaneously mentioned "Survivor" as the program they'd most like to see canceled.

"I'm not entertained by watching people eat spiders," said Jeanie Peterson, 59, of New Orleans.

Less than one American in 10 said they have watched a full-length television show over the Internet. For those under 30, it's 14 percent, the poll found.

The poll found 28 percent of Americans say they would like to see more news on television, compared to 17 percent in the 2005 survey.

The poll was conducted by Ipsos and involved interviews with 1,204 adults from Aug. 24-26. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.

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Reader comments on this story - 28 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

Jon wrote on Sep 13, 2007 3:32 PM:

" TV died for me when Sci-Fi axed "Mystery Science Theater 3000". Keep circulating the tapes! "

Lizzy wrote on Sep 13, 2007 2:57 PM:

" I am totally entertained when people eat spiders. "

The Joker wrote on Sep 13, 2007 12:14 PM:

" I was channel surfing the other evening and went through the entire lineup without seeing ANY program. Commercials on every channel I stopped at. Even if there were anything good to watch on TV, the constant bombardment of slick sales pitches gets real old real fast. I watch very little TV anymore, with the exception of football and baseball. I put up with the commercials there becasue I am really interested in the games. But just about everything else in the lineup is not woth bothering with. Chess would be a perfect sport/game to broadcast on the telle. Just think about how many beer commercials they could get in between moves. Think about that, but first, a word from our sponsers. "

Adam wrote on Sep 13, 2007 12:02 PM:

" To the prof. Rock and Roll isnt dead, its just been pushed to the backdrop. Go listen to Okkervil River or Wilco and tell me rock is dead. The truth is there is a TON of great music being made in the world, you just have to peel back the BS marketed exterior to find it. Even with hip hop there are some real artists working with that medium, they get almost zero mainstream play, but they exist. Put some effort into your search instead of just complaining. "

I remember wrote on Sep 13, 2007 11:39 AM:

" a time where MTV actually played music. Those were the days. Then they came up with MTV 2, which played music-then they had to start putting shows on it. Now they have MTV 3...i dont watch it so I don't really know if it has music or not. "

DJ wrote on Sep 13, 2007 9:46 AM:

" TV is just awful, its not all rape and murder, its those stupid sit coms and commercials. I'd like to take that Geico and feed him to the cave men. For a lot of us tv is our only entertainment. They bring a good show on and it lasts for about 5 weeks and then a grand finale. Then after you are hooked, you have to wait and see when it will be back on, or if it is. It used to be summer re-runs, and then in Sept. the shows would be back on, including some new ones. What happened to that??? "

They Live, again wrote on Sep 13, 2007 9:32 AM:

" We stopped watching TV around 6 years ago (except for the occassional viewing of a couple of PBS shows like Nature or The Red Green Show), and now, when I do happen to see network shows, I can't believe how bad they really are, perhaps ESPECIALLY because of the commercials. (And what's with that "all-women-are-beautiful-geniuses-but-all-men-are-fat-and-stupid" aspect of commercials? What's that all about?) The effect of leaving TV and then returning reminds me of the movie "They Live" .... "Just put on the Glasses!!!" "

..::mizer::.. wrote on Sep 13, 2007 9:22 AM:

" Amazing that they actually had to have a pole to figure this one out.... "

Some Good Stuff wrote on Sep 13, 2007 8:55 AM:

" There are alot of good shows on fx :Damages, Rescue Me,Always Sunny In Philadelphia,The Daily Show. I do agree with Woodford Pundit.Iwish I could pick my channels and not buy whole packages. I would drop all the religious stations, Lifetime, BET,Shopping & sports channels. I wish I could get Discovery Science here in Lexington "

to Cavewoman wrote on Sep 13, 2007 8:53 AM:

" I'm liberal as they come and I don't watch TV. Its not liberal, its just stupid and infantile. "

Larry the Cable Guy wrote on Sep 13, 2007 8:09 AM:

" It's not just sex, it's the killing/murders that you can't get away from...simple things like the increase in smoking on almost all shows (way down the list of things). The thing is, networks would not put this on the air if there wasn't an audience. Large numbers of people ARE watching it for some reason. It has nothing to do with political viewpoints (hey, conservatives use the bathrooms at airports). It has everything to do with the public "need to see". "

To the professor wrote on Sep 13, 2007 8:04 AM:

" I agree and disagree, there are great bands out there, problem is nobody wants to hear them! What do you expect, these kids dont know what good music is! I play 7 instruments and produce music that is Beatlesque, and my recordings do not make it out of my home studio. Mostly because nobody cares, I guess we have been conditioned to just swallow what has been marketed to us. Look at our culture, BSpears is terrible and gives EXTRA terrible performances, and yet she sells records, and I sit in my bedroom with my dreams. "Yes I would like some cheese, I'm starving." Nobody cares and also "nobody cares." I could just say that over and over again, because it is the reasons for so many problems now! Nobody cares! "

I agree with wrote on Sep 13, 2007 7:45 AM:

" Thank God 4 &It use 2 B /but shut up needs 2 realize thats why we have the predicument we do. No voice on good & evil. Tv is 1 of the reason's I believe we have people killing , abusing today. Porno no matter what form is another. They c it/ it becomes a today thing and are void of feeling anything and a lot of times pic on those who can't save themselves- a child. Guess it makes em feel mocho or there just reliving a movie they saw and it was ok there so its ok n real life. God help parents 2 take control & b reponsible n raising kids today who will care 4 others not just themselves. "

Adam wrote on Sep 13, 2007 7:44 AM:

" Four words: Flight of the Conchords. I cant wait until season 2! "

Sundays wrote on Sep 13, 2007 7:42 AM:

" I'd like to see more football and less womans golf on Sunday. Why not show the Packers playing the Eagles, i much rather watch that than Michelle Wie sink a 2 foot putt. Boooo NBC. also Boo the FCC, i hate censorship. "

Woodford Pundit wrote on Sep 13, 2007 6:57 AM:

" Perhaps if we didn't have to pay for all the crap we never watch . . . "

LittleMac wrote on Sep 13, 2007 6:22 AM:

" Yes, for the most part, the programming is lousy. Unless you're 13 years old. But, you have to admit: the commercials are terrific. Personally, I don't know why they waste all that air time, filling up the dead air between the commercials. Why not 24 hr. commercials? "

Meh wrote on Sep 12, 2007 10:16 PM:

" TV is beyond lame. I cancelled cable in 2001 and haven't looked back. I don't even have an antenna. "

To: yeah wrote on Sep 12, 2007 9:19 PM:

" Luckily there's a Family Guy... "

Worthless wrote on Sep 12, 2007 8:55 PM:

" The reality TV fad we're in is all crap. And there are so many commercials in a 30 minute show, there's no time for any real substance anyways. Thank god for sports! I mean college basketball, not the over-paid whiney professional thing. "

SHUT UP wrote on Sep 12, 2007 8:51 PM:

" if you dont like whats on tv don't watch it or block it out. you dont have to watch those tv shows about sex sex sex stop complaining in public "

yeah wrote on Sep 12, 2007 8:17 PM:

" It seems today that all you see Is violence in movies and sex on TV But where are those good old-fashioned values On which we use to rely? "

Cavewoman wrote on Sep 12, 2007 7:55 PM:

" What do you expect when Hollywood is run by if-it-feels-good-do-it liberals? They could care less about better quality TV. They think the only way to get ratings is by showing questionable behavior... "

Dawn wrote on Sep 12, 2007 7:54 PM:

" What gets me is when they play the same episode of Sex in the City on five different channels, and run a movie twice in a row on a single channel. And, they have the nerve to wonder why people are disillusioned with T.V. "

The Professor wrote on Sep 12, 2007 7:42 PM:

" This is evidence of the dumbing down of America. Not only is it evident with television, but in music. It is safe to say rock n roll is dead. It was killed by Hip Hop and the computer game idiots who can't tell the difference between reality and virtual reality. Proof of this is B.Spears. No talent, just good computer enhancement to back her. There will never be anything close to The Beatles, Led Zep., Rolling Stones, The Doors etc... "

Jamaal wrote on Sep 12, 2007 7:38 PM:

" Between BET, MTV & TV Land, I would like to a cable network designed for the 40 year old and older people of the white race. I don't mean this to sound mean or racist, I am just being honest. "

It used to be wrote on Sep 12, 2007 6:51 PM:

" 3-6 channels of something decent (ABC,CBS,NBC,PBS and a couple independents). Now it's 200 channels of crap,with the REALLY odd channel of something worthwhile. "

Thank God for~~ wrote on Sep 12, 2007 5:43 PM:

" animal planet!! TV sucks so much so, I watch a lot of home improvement and of course animal planet. Every channel is sex or murder or a stupid comedy that isn't funny. If it's worthwhile they send it to the grave and never to be seen again. If you scan the channels on any given night you will find someone being shot, stabbed, or raped and that gets so old. No wonder we have so much violence in this world. Today a man was on TV in a store, waiting on customers totally naked!!! I saw no humor in that, just sheer stupidity! Cable has sunk to an all time LOW!!! So I'll just stick to my simple shows, and keep the kids away from other junk. You just can't fix stupid!!! "
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