Millennials ditching their TV sets at a record rate

[Jesus Malverde]

The biggest TV drama among millennials is playing off screen.

So far this season, younger viewers, the most important audience for advertisers, have ditched their TV sets at more than double the rate of previous years, new Nielsen figures show.

Traditional TV usage — which has been falling among viewers ages 18 to 34 at around 4 percent a year since 2012 — tumbled 10.6 percent between September and January.

In the era of smartphones and Netflix, it’s no surprise that traditional TV is losing relevance for younger viewers. But the sudden acceleration is alarming to even the most seasoned analysts.

“The change in behavior is stunning. The use of streaming and smartphones just year-on-year is double-digit increases,” Alan Wurtzel, NBCUniversal’s audience research chief, told The Post. “I’ve never seen that kind of change in behavior.”

http://nypost.com/2015/02/16/millenials-ditching-their-tv-sets-at-a-record-rate/

[jberryhill]

1. There is nothing worth watching

[Warpy]

5. TCM is it but if they don't stop showing bad movies from the 50s-90s

in garish color just because they're in color, I probably won't be keeping mine much longer except for DVDs.

Too much of it has become freak shows, catering to the worst people out there.

[jberryhill]

7. The freak shows are not freaky enough imho

Some guy trying to pawn an alien Bigfoot he found in a storage locker doesn't do much for me.

[yeoman6987]

13. Because of this, Internet providers will soon

Limit the usage of how much streaming we can do. I heard some have already. I think that is horrible! I will keep cable as long as Comcast keeps unlimited streaming. How long will that be? Who knows but sooner then I believe.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

20. There has never been more to watch or worth watching,

We're if anything in a golden age of the television series format.

The difference is instead of 18,000,000 people watching Gunsmoke in unison at 7:30 on Monday nights, people are watching their shows whenever they feel like it. I do a lot of transatlantic flights. I watch entire seasons at once and pick it up again next year.

[Cha]

136. Agree. Walter.. only I watch whole Seasons on Netflix @ mi casa.

[rainbobryte]

26. True that....

I stick to YouTube and movies and tv shows on my kindle.

[Kablooie]

29. Where's My Mother The Car when you need it?

[jberryhill]

110. THAT I would watch

It's interesting how many programs back then had surreal premises - My Favorite Martian, Mr. Ed, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and the clones I Dream of Jeannie/Bewitched, The Munsters/Addams Family.

[Rosco T.]

126. It's on HULU, full run, nicely restored n/m

[jwirr]

108. On that I agree.

[lpbk2713]

2. Most programs are of the cookie cutter type.

There is nothing I watch regularly any more.

[bravenak]

3. The TV is full of shit.

When all of my shows move to apps like HBOgo and stuff, I'll end my cable again. I keep it for Shmeless, Better call Saul, GoT, House of Lies, etc. and HGTV.

[Orsino]

79. There's far more good stuff on than I can watch...

...yet I agree with your assessment.

[lame54]

103. lovin' better call saul

[bravenak]

104. Me too.

[Quackers]

4. I'm 32

I cancelled my cable subscription in December, 2011. I have Netflix, my iPad, and if I want new shows or movies, I buy digital copies from iTunes. I think I save way more money this way and I get to keep my digital content forever.

[Delphinus]

35. So,

do you just get the Internet?

[elleng]

6. Not MY daughters (and their husbands.)

They're 26 and 30, have large tvs, and think about getting larger ones.

[quakerboy]

24. But are they using them to watch traditional TV?

Smart TV's have become relatively affordable. Netflix doesn't register on the neilson data collection, as I understand it. So if thats all you watch, you might as well be reading a book as far as the ratings are concerned.

[elleng]

25. Pretty much, I think.

A lot of sports.

[pstokely]

62. maybe they need sports

nt

[MillennialDem]

70. 34 here, I have a 150 inch projector screen and a 40 inch TV - but I don't watch cable or satellite

just use the tv and screen for netflix / amazon prime. Also buy blu rays and DVDs and sometimes play PC (video) games on the screen.

[Katashi_itto]

92. Yup two 50' inch and everything is linked to the computers.

I think Buffy was the last show I watched.

The movie I am producing and directing is aimed just to digital distribution venues.

[LeftyMom]

8. I'm not bothering with cable if I can figure out how to get around MLB's blackout rules.

Everything else that I want I can find easily enough, and I finally found a decent standalone internet deal.

If it weren't a complete fucking ripoff I'd pay for it. But money's tight and that's a pretty painless way to carve $80 or so out of the budget.

I still have a ginormous TV, but I've had it forever. It's awesome for sports and movies.

[villager]

17. Fellow Giants fan here, LeftyMom

On the other hand, being a Bay Area ex-pat -- since I'm down in El Lay now -- I get to see more "home" games of the black-and-orange that way...

[pstokely]

63. could try a VPN, but I think they're cracking down on those

at least you don't live in Iowa where 6 teams claim the whole state

[msongs]

9. all those effing ads making up half the viewing time, ditched our tv 10 yrs ago nt

[a kennedy]

45. OMGosh, I hear ya on all the ads......we DVR everything worth watching....

and just fly through the advertisements. It's just unbearable though when football is on. Ugh.....

[Initech]

10. Commercials ruin everything.

Who wants to pay $160 a month to watch five minutes of programming and 15 minutes of ads? Answer: Um... NOBODY!!! I'd rather get the season passes off iTunes then I can watch the shows I want at the pace I want.

[killbotfactory]

15. This right here

Watching regular TV is like trying to read a book where some asshole slaps it out of your hand and tries to sell you shit for a couple minutes after every few pages.

fuck that.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

55. What you said! ^^^^ :)

[onenote]

57. Wow. I've never seen a show with five minutes of content and 15 minutes of ads.

I have a DVR service that lets me record up to ten shows and I can watch them upstairs, downstairs, in my bedroom when I want while skipping the commercials. While I also can watch content on my laptop or phone, i find that very unappealing compared to watching on a 60 inch screen with surround sound while curled up on my couch.

Different strokes for different folks.

[Initech]

75. Ok that was a gross exaggeration.

But I was watching "24: Live Another Day" on DVD and with that show its really easy to count how much time passes in commercial breaks. In a 1 hour episode there's exactly 4 breaks and each break lasts almost exactly 5 minutes. I was kind of using that as the basis for my claim.

[JHB]

111. Exactly. When roughly 1/3 of the scheduled time is actually ads...

...people are going to watch what they want through means that don't qualify as "traditional TV".

[JI7]

11. it's a good thing if TV shows are full of lame talk shows and fake reality shit

[jen1980]

12. When Microsoft NBC is the closest thing we have to honest TV...

and it is pretty damn biased, there is nothing worth watching. They lost their backbone years ago. You can really tell that they hate us and no longer have respect for us.

[olddots]

14. the game is over

the medium is not the message anymore

[Lydia Leftcoast]

16. I watch PBS, which I get over the air in HD, and the rest is all streaming

Netflix, Hulu Plus, Acorn TV, and MHz Worldview provide more than I have time to watch.

[L0oniX]

84. +1

[Half-Century Man]

18. My TV is on quite a bit.

Kids are playing the Gamecube.

[bobclark86]

19. Telvision? What's that?

There's not even a television in my house, let alone a pay service hooked to one.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

21. The 1% is flipping out that if the younger generation is off the drug they'll wake up.

[stillwaiting]

38. The 1% have at least 3 drugs they are offering up and succeeding with.

TV, Internet, Smartphones...

Now, which would YOU prefer?!?!

Distract and divide is the name of game, and we're all ((U.S. citizens that is) mostly) playing along with the script.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

99. We're also realizing the system is rigged.

[Codeine]

118. They still watch the same stuff.

They're just using a new delivery system, and one in no way less corporately-owned than traditional tv.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

121. That's still a problem. The whole idea is to get citizens to become zombies at prime time.

[Marr]

22. Television programming has never been better (HBO series, in particular), but

you just don't need a television to watch those shows. Television isn't even the most practical delivery medium for people who are accustomed to watching movies on tablets or computers.

[Midnight Writer]

23. Many of my senior friends are dumping cable

They are buying antennas for local news, but they could care less about the cable programming. Too shallow, too stupid, too violent, too profane. And too expensive. My cable bill increases at least twice per year.

What is popular in our area is METV and THIS, both broadcast networks that show programming from the fifties, sixties and seventies.

[oldandhappy]

27. Two of five families in my family have gone off TV.

Several friends have gone off TV. They get everything on their laptops or smart phones. I am in a condo situation and have to pay for the cable anyway, so I do use the TV. But mostly I am on the computer.

[Telcontar]

28. If wasnt for ESPN SEC, I wouldnt have cable either

Netflicks, HBO Togo, and Amazon are my usual fare, with Discover and History Channel and TEDS tossed in.

[GreatGazoo]

30. translation: cable networks have financial..not sure what to call it...need (?), greed (?) incentive

to follow this group to internet delivery of media and try to continue to be gate keeper$, which is why they want to strike down net neutrality.

[Kablooie]

31. HBO, Showtime, AMC all have some good shows.

But I haven't watched broadcast TV in ages.

(But my wife watches game shows during the day.)

[alcibiades_mystery]

39. FX shows are good, too. The Americans is fantastic television, for instance

[a kennedy]

46. Love the Americans....

[Initech]

76. Don't forget Archer, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia and Man Seeking Woman.

Love Archer this season. The last episode where they get stuck in the elevator.... Holy crap!

[Codeine]

128. HOLY SHITSNACKS!

Loves me some Pam!

[Initech]

129. Last week's episode was classic Pam.

"I thought the hole was going to be bigger!"

[onyourleft]

91. Indeed, we...

...make sure to watch that show, albeit not on the night shown.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

86. They're all available online somewhere, as long as you don't have to see them immediately

I can even catch up on missed PBS shows because I have their "channel" on my Roku streaming device.

[jwirr]

113. I tried watching MSNBC online - too damned slow and even the videos are hard to watch. I may be

too old to understand how it works at 73. I pay for cable $20 a month and watch only the nightly news shows, HGTV, Link and occasionally something just for fun like SNL 40th and the dog show on Sunday. I am on the computer most of the time.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

117. A lot depends on how fast your Internet connection is

If it's weak, the video will be jerky and keep reloading.

[jwirr]

125. That is what it does. I think maybe at my age I might just as well stick with cable.

[cantbeserious]

32. TV Free For 15 Years

eom

[icymist]

33. Think of this: Why should they pay to watch TV when they can access it for free?

Look at Hulu and look at TV Fanatic. There's no reason to pay for TV when it is on the internet for free.

[a kennedy]

47. Love this idea, but how do we get it onto our bigger screen tv???

Is there some link we do to get shows from our computer to our tv?? we've got a fairly large computer screen, but not big enough to watch from our comfy chairs. Is there such a device?? Thanks.

[RedCappedBandit]

54. You can plug your computer into a TV with an HDMI or DVI cable

Or use google's crappy little chromecast device which I wouldn't recommend

HDMI cable costs two bucks. Good to go.

[a kennedy]

59. You're kidding?? that's it?? Thanks so much.....

Have talked about cutting the cable connection before, but are seriously considering it now.....has just gotten way to expensive for stuff we WON'T EVER watch. So thank you so much for your suggestion.

[snappyturtle]

64. It works! Been doing it for three years.. nt

[RedCappedBandit]

67. It does depend on what ports your computer and TV have

but whatever the case, you can buy the appropriate cable.

[pstokely]

65. old computers don't have HDMI outputs, old TVs don't have HDMI, DVI, or VGA inputs

nt

[RedCappedBandit]

66. Can still buy a converter/cable for DVI to RGB, DVI to HDMI, whatever

nt

[pstokely]

133. Tube TVs only have RCA and Coax inputs nt

nt

[RedCappedBandit]

137. That would be included in 'whatever' ;)

[Hosnon]

88. Despite with this poster says, the Chromecast is AMAZING.

It's cheap, simple to use, and Google periodically pushes rental credits to each Chromecast. My boyfriend and I had $18 of credit for "Valentine's Day"!

[whatthehey]

80. Check if you have a USB slot. Most TVs <10 yrs old do

Typically they will play .mp4 format files best, just by changing the input to the USB slot (often called "media" on the menu), and you can download these either legally for a fee from various providers or illicitly but free from torrent sites as your conscience dictates.

[Hosnon]

89. Buy a Chromecast ($35).

http://www.google.com/chrome/devices/chromecast/

[closeupready]

93. Thanks for the link - I am going to buy one on my next paycheck.

[Hosnon]

102. Be sure to check Best Buy (if there's one near you).

The Chromecast often has great deals, the most recent being $20 of free Google Play credit.

[closeupready]

139. So yesterday, I purchased a Chromecast from the Best Buy near me here, but

I was unable to get it working. My Samsung smart TV doesn't seem to want to detect it - am I doing something wrong? What is the best tutorial/troubleshooting video out there? I will have to return it if I can't figure it out. Bummed.

[Hosnon]

140. The Chromecast website probably has a tutorial.

As long as it's plugged into an HDMI port, you should be able to switch inputs to access it. You'll need to download the app on your phone or tablet, too.

[metalbot]

105. You want a Roku box

Inexpensive, low power device that will hook to your wireless internet and stream Netflix/Hulu/HBOGo/Amazon/YouTube/more directly to your TV. Decent user interface, and has a remote. No monthly cost for Roku, though you'll obviously pay providers (Netflix, etc) for subscriptions.

[haikugal]

112. I airstream using my IPad through Apple TV.

Works great. I can do everything but turn things on, off or do volume, I have to use remotes for that. I remember well having to get up to change channels etc. this is nice.

[onenote]

53. Hulu isn't exactly free

You need an Internet service for which you pay. And if you want Hulu Plus, you pay a subscription fee. And there are commercials on both Hulu and Hulu Plus programming.

Hulu, by the way, is owned by NBC, Fox and Disney. And they're fine with offering "free" streaming service up to a point; but if at some point it cuts too deeply into their revenues from cable and satellite services, they will find a way to recover the revenue, probably by increasing licensing fees to other streaming services.

[a kennedy]

60. This is good to know......thanks for the info.

[Tsiyu]

34. The internet-addicted millennials have far superior bullshit detectors

than the ones their TV-addicted Boomer parents have.

They're drowning in student loans, unable to move forward, so, no, they do not want to listen to one more second of chirpy "everything-is-great-go-buy-this-new-thing" programming.

Not that they don't have their amusements. They are simply far less willing to be pandered to than their parents, who love being told lies so they don't have to do anything about the truth.

The Democratic party leaders could take note, but they won't.

[Fred Sanders]

83. The mass media is losing their battle to keep their exclusive license to feed lies to the masses...it is a disaster if mind control is your

mission.

[kelliekat44]

36. There will always be people growing old, with poor eyesight and not so nimble fingers. nt

[Taitertots]

37. Good. Turn off the idiot box.

I really don't see what anyone finds interesting about TV.

[brooklynite]

40. You DID read the article, didn't you?

It didn't say people weren't watching programming ; just that they're not watching cable-based and OTA on TV sets.

[Dawgs]

43. Correct. The title for this article is dumb. n/t

[Taitertots]

58. 20% fewer young adults watch prime time TV compared to 20 years ago

Unless you want to make the claim that Internet video should be included in "idiot box", then I stand behind my statement.

[RobinA]

44. Well...

Idiot boxes come in all sizes. I don't see millenials giving up screens. In fact, most of them have far more screens and spend way more attention on them than straight TV addicts. I have yet to see anybody sitting in a restaurant with friends or a date watching a TV. However, the phone generation...

And really, the phone thing is not just millenials. I'm 57 and I have friends who can't seem to put their phones down, even on vacation. My friend used to read several books on our weeklong vacations at the beach. This past year she played Candy Crush the whole time.

So, in my opinion, the screen is ever more dominant, it just might not be a TV.

[Taitertots]

51. The content on the screen is just as important

Is candy crush 1/3rd commercials?

Can we at least agree that watching 30 minutes of commercials on dancing with the stars is quantifiably different from other forms of new media?

[RobinA]

87. Not Really

I don't distinquish much between commercials, Dancing with the Stars, Candy Crush, Facebook or texting. All are time sucks that are fine as a diversion, but not fine as a substitute for life. Whether a Boomer is spending her life in front of the TV or a millenial goes through her day with her phone in hand texting and twitting through life, I regard them as basically the same.

Read a damn book about something, build something, make something, learn something new, meet a new bunch of people, play a game. Come home and relax with a screen sometimes, but they're best used like any opiate - in small doses.

[Taitertots]

116. Texting/Facebook is communicating with your friends and loved ones

"Read a damn book about something, build something, make something, learn something new, meet a new bunch of people, play a game."
Sorry to break it to you, but people use computers/smart phones to do all those things. It appears that your only complaint is that they are not doing them the same way as you.

[Jamaal510]

95. +1

[GoCubsGo]

119. "Idiot boxes come in all sizes."

Yep. Smart phones and iPads have taken over TV sets as the new idiot boxes. I can't tell you how many sporting events I have watched where people in the stands are more interested in what's on their phones than in the game on which they just spent a small fortune to attend. You spend hundreds of dollars for seats on the glass at a hockey game, and you don't watch the game?

Even at the gym, they can't put the damn things down. Last night, there were 4 of us in the sauna. Three of them were playing on their smart phones. It was 180 degrees in there, and they're so fucking attached to those things that they can't even put them down under conditions that could damage them.

[Dawgs]

41. Should be 'ditching cable', not 'TV sets'. n/t

[a kennedy]

49. That's the ticket......the operation, not the vehicle.

[brooklynite]

42. It's not a complete month without holier than thou "I don't watch TV and neither should you" posts..

[alcibiades_mystery]

48. "That thing you like sucks and is super horrible" is now a general cultural trope

The Busybody is valued cultural character.

People need to mind they own.

[Jamaal510]

96. +1

[alp227]

98. If a work can't withstand criticism, it sucks. Why shut down open discussion

with telling people "to mind they own"?

[bigwillq]

50. I like my TV.

Although I don't watch many shows. I like having it on, I guess.
I'll keep mine.

[RedCappedBandit]

52. Never paid for TV in my entire adult life

most others I know are the same

Doesn't even make sense to pay what cable tv costs to watch horrible shows, 50% of the time it's nauseating commercials, and you have no choice of when to even watch.

[leveymg]

56. Cable/sat access is a near monopoly & way overpriced.

A lot of people 18-34 simply can't afford to view in to cable/sat TV, so they do something cheaper. Same reason that the movie industry is suffering.

[fadedrose]

61. If I ditch TV from Comcast . . .

It will be because I don't watch much besides news programs. MSNBC has prison programs when I need news, and CNN has so much on that isn't news they should rename their network to ABN -anything but news. I like many of the news shows, but my biggest complaint is:

There are so many commercials. You could count 10 or 15 short commercials a few times on every program which shatters my concentration. I can't figure out why I pay so much for Comcast and STILL get so many commercials.

They are making a ton of money on us. There ought to be a law. Watching TV is expensive, and the younger people figured this out. Trouble is, older people like me don' have the nimble fingers required to text and play around with finding things that take as much agility as learning a new invention.

[djean111]

68. My household consists of me, my son, and my grandson. I am the only one who

has a FIOS set top box. The guys watch whatever they want to, online. The mantra is - why worry about watching something RIGHT NOW, when it will be repeated a hundred times and/or be available online? This is not a holier than thou because I don't watch TV, this is just a different way of getting entertainment. In fact, they both would rather binge on a series, all at once, than bother with watching weekly, except for a very few shows, like Banshee or GOT. They do play WOW a lot. I still watch TV, but there are very few shows I really make sure I watch each week.

I just think the days of sitting in front of a TV all evening and really just watching the least boring show, if there is not a show someone really wants to watch - that's getting to be so over.

[Zorra]

69. Way to go milennials!!! Take it from this boomer, who watched in horror as

a significant percentage of her generation underwent a full on corporate sponsored video lobotomy, and went from Woodstock to money loving Reagan voting corporate butt sucking zombie yuppie scum.

Kill your television. Drive a wooden stake through its corporate heart.

[fishwax]

71. they're ditching the delivery system, not the content

"TV" is in many ways better than its ever been, it just isn't available exclusively (or in some cases at all) through traditional broadcast or cable.

[MillennialDem]

72. I have a TV and a projector screen but no cable or satellite subscription

I watch Netflix and Amazon Prime
I buy Blu Rays and DVDs
I sometimes play computer games on the projector screen
I also have two monitors for my computer and play a lot of video games and will often watch youtube like secular talk, the young turks, david pakman, bill maher, jon stewart, and other things you can't watch on netflix or amazon prime.

[cyberswede]

73. I'm pretty sure my kids have never watched network tv

We never watch - I don't even know what the current shows are on the big 3 networks.

The kids do watch some cable shows (ESPN, HGTV, Nick), but a lot more Netflix.

If it weren't for soccer, we'd cancel satellite.

Oh wait...I forgot that my 12 y.o. daughter and I are watching Agent Carter. She freaked out after the first episode when I told her we'd have to wait a week for the next episode to be aired. She'd never heard of that before.

[GusBob]

74. Great news

12years TV free next month....and no holier than thou for me.....after a few clicks on the Internet I figured there were no WMDs in Iraq and that turned out to be correct, at a price that cost many lives and continues to do so today. The networks were lying to us about the war and drooling about the ratings. I hope they go out of business

[craigmatic]

77. Watching tv is passive and requires alot of patience. The reason internet is more popular is that

I can read articles here on DU while listening to some new story on youtube. The point is that it's interactive. The sad part is that I used to love tv and have more than 100 channels but just don't have the patience to watch like I used to.

[Jesus Malverde]

78. Something broke the cycle for me as well.

I used to consume television news with passion, then somewhere along the way I realized it was consuming me.

I see it time and time again here as posts with people who are reacting to what they saw on TV. That one way medium is doomed.

[Arugula Latte]

109. The Internet has made me impatient with the newspaper.

My husband and I used to spend hours on Sunday mornings going through the paper. Now I hardly glance at it. I think: "Hmm, this news is already old and I can find more interesting things to read with a mouseclick or two."

[MuseRider]

81. If I could stream I would do this.

As it is now it takes around 3 days to download a movie where I live and that is IF I can download. It sucks so badly here that it usually takes a long time for a 30 second YouTube to buffer. There is no streaming with the speeds we have at the top offered package. Tower to tower wireless sucks.

I see so many things going to streaming and it scares me that we will be left with only old TV soap operas one day soon.

[haikugal]

115. We used to have that problem.

It was the mid 90's before they delivered cable to us and early 90's we had sat TV. Until then we got three channels and one was PBS, thanks Obama! Did I say it was grim? We don't watch "the news" anymore other than occasionally and that's TYT or Al Jazeera. I can podcast Democracy Now. We have some things we watch but hardly anything compared to what was normal in the past. I do almost everything through the computer. We need upgraded Internet delivery in this country.

[MuseRider]

123. Didn't the latest report say that Broadband needed to be at least 25 Mbps download speed?

If we had broadband that would be 25 times higher than what we get. Most times it is down below 1 Mbps. We are hoping for another tower that is a little closer to us, hoping they don't end up overloading it so that we have to get up in the middle of the night to get anything on the net that needs more than that. It certainly seems like other countries do much better but then again my state is willfully running backwards (Brownbackwards) as fast as it can. There is no place like homophobia as I think it was Jon Stewart who said that? I don't know we could not get the show, the satellite is bad out here too.

[haikugal]

124. Awwww

Damn you are in the middle of nowhere! I know how you feel...

Yes this country needs to deal with our problems and upgrade our infrastructure, seriously. I know exactly how frustrating it can be

[phylny]

120. We're in the same boat.

I visited one of our daughters near Asheville, NC, and I was absolutely amazed - all kinds of programs, instantly! Yes, she has cable Internet, and we have satellite. I hope one day we'll catch up to the rest of civilization.

[MuseRider]

122. I sure hope so

because I love to watch good shows, there are quite a lot of them actually but I have found that the movie channels have moved to mostly crap and some to old TV shows while you can get the good (or better) movies but you have to stream or download them.

I love where I live but I absolutely hate that we have no service. I am lucky to be able to post and there are sometimes weeks that go by that we really can't. I HATE it but it is what it is.

[tabbycat31]

82. I ditched mine last year

And I don't really miss it. I have Amazon Prime and Netflix and I do watch TV in bed on my Kindle, but no commercials and some better quality programming (Breaking Bad, House of Cards, etc).

I don't see myself going back.

[Bluenorthwest]

85. Many posts on this thread confuse the device with the content. The consumption of filmed content

has never been higher. It's the delivery and viewing methods that change. From the article: " Millennials are watching online video from Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO GO and other “streaming” sources.

Consumption of video is bigger than ever. Wurtzel’s research shows a year-over-year increase of 22 percent in subscription video viewing in 2014, and a 26 percent rise in “binge viewing.”

[Populist_Prole]

90. My millennial brothers and sisters are mind-numbed bots thoroughly smitten by the idiot box

No discrimination in their tastes whatsoever. They are "TV Inc"s dream: The perfect example of "if it's on TV, I'll watch it", and engage in all manner of banal chatter with each other and anybody else within earshot about this or that show.

Funny because though I rarely watch ( other than TCM ) but when I'm exposed to it, most of the programming sure does seem to be aimed at that age group.

[Jamaal510]

94. Not me.

I tried going without cable around my apartment for a few months just to save money, but I couldn't do it. It was boring, and not everything I like to watch is available online.

[closeupready]

97. I signed up for FiOS last summer, for the first time in my adult life.

Had never been a cable subscriber before, and didn't feel I was missing anything.

Now, I have to say that I enjoy it quite a bit. Lots of stuff that piques my interests, like "Chopped", "Schitt's Creek", "Life Below Zero", "Yukon Men", Al-Jazeera's documentaries, many of the films on Turner Classic Movies ... I DVR, and then FF through the commercials. I can envision a day when I'd be willing to let it go, but I'm not ready to do that at the moment.

I'm going to try Google's Chromecast and see how that fits my entertainment fancy, but I have a feeling I'm going to be a cable subscriber for a while.

Oh, yes, and FiOS picture quality is excellent, even better than the quality I see when I'm at the local pub watching the big screen over the bar.

[KamaAina]

100. Not just millennials

I have a friend in her late 50's (I think) who doesn't have one. And another friend who just turned 40.

[mike_c]

101. threw mine away 20+ years ago....

Good riddance. I've never understood why anyone would want to spend hours of their lives every day staring at a flickering box.

[Arugula Latte]

106. Just have to post this...

I know that it was written in a completely different era, a pre-Internet world, but still ...

Edited to say: I think there is a lot of great content on "TV" -- especially HBO, so I am not one of those holier-than-thous, too-good-for-TV, get-off-my-lawn types.

[jwirr]

107. I see that in my house. The two millennials here are so glued to the gamers world and Netflix that

they seldom know anything the I tell them about news. They also did not vote in 2014. Yet my grandson often says to me "we are just going to wait until all the old people die and then it is our turn." Wonder what he plans on doing when it is his turn?

They other day when we were talking about an oligarchy here on DU I decided to test him. I asked if he knew what it meant and the answer was "I have heard it before and it has something to do with government."

Where are they getting their news?

And how do ever hope to get them out to vote?

[F4lconF16]

114. I don't own a TV, and just recently canceled my Netflix.

I've found the money to be much better spent on Spotify and a good book everything I need is online, otherwise. I rarely watch tv shows and stuff anymore, preferring to just watch stuff on occassion with friends.

(ah, crap. Just remember I'm watching "The Bachelor" tonight with 3 friends. A truly god-awful, sexist, demeaning, idiotic, scripted, fake, and entirely useless show. But it makes for good conversation lol.)

[strategery blunder]

127. A lot of us can't afford to give Comcrap 150+/month

Cable bills have risen at least twice as fast as inflation for all our lives.

Comca$t has been buying up the competition at least since I was in elementary school, if not earlier. (And I'm one of the older millenials)

Who the hell can afford cable?

There are less expensive delivery methods out there. Moreover they allow us to consume content a la carte--and the cable industry, er I mean, Comcrap has resisted a la carte cable for as long as I've been alive.

Comcrap needs to get with the times, and I say this as a Luddite as far as millenials are concerned. (I used a "dumb" cell phone until I got a smartphone for Christmas this past year LOL)

[lovemydog]

131. ^ this

[Silent3]

130. Dropping cable doesn't surprise me. Settling for watching on a computer screen, or worse, a phone...

...which is apparently what a lot of people end up doing, that's what seems a little sad.

Just when huge high-quality HD displays have become so much more affordable, and, for those who bother to take the trouble to set them up, sound systems to go with the big screens, now ironically more and more people are going back to watching movies and TV shows on tiny little screens with sound coming out of tinny little speakers.

Yes, computers, even some smartphones, can be hooked up to big TVs, but I get the impression most people don't bother. I'm not sure how many people are viewing streaming services through specialized media players like Roku or Apple TV hooked up to big TVs, but not so many that there still isn't a lot of viewing happening directly from laptop and phone screens.

[4_TN_TITANS]

132. My college aged daughter & boyfriend

wanted to watch the Super Bowl but none of their friends their age had cable or satellite. They ended up streaming on NBC somehow.

Me and the wife gave up satellite because over 25% of everything on the tv was commercials. We'll get it back when they pay US to watch the damn ads.

[pstokely]

134. do they even have a TV or could they not get NBC OTA?

?

[Cha]

135. Good.. they're catching up to me. The more tvs dumped.. the better it gets online... I've

certainly noticed how much better everything I watch on my laptop has gotten since I first left my tv in New York. And, tv "news".. fuggeddiboudit.. I cancelled that in Nov 2002.

People on the go.. not tied into TV's schedule!

[Initech]

138. TV isn't going anywhere - traditional services are.

Nobody watches broadcast TV anymore on a regular schedule - DVR, VOD, and on demand are becoming the new normal and networks and content providers better get their shit together or they'll fail.