The Platinum Age of Television: Nielsen Ratings Vs. Twitter

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• published: 19 Jan 2014
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Breaking Bad, Dexter, Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, Mad Men; Television has never been better. Or has it? For every action there's an opposite and equal reaction, and with the rise of every new great television series there's also a lot more dross making its way into living rooms across the country and abroad. Regardless, one thing is certain, television has made a strong comeback in lieu of movies and video games. But what's with this so-called "Platinum Age of Television" and how is it measured? Is it that shows are actually getting better in regards to content, or is does it have to do with how that viewership is measured? Do these standard television rating systems even count the growing online audience found on Netflix, Hulu, and other streaming mediums? What about the rise of social media? How much pull does Facebook and Twitter really have in not only attracting television audiences, but also developing fanbases to keep the shows on the air? And while LaughingMan, Kenny, CineMax, and B-Mask lament the endings of a few of their favorite television shows (Dexter, Breaking Bad) they crack open a past issue of WIRED Magazine and debate how much validity this so-called "Platinum Age of Television" has behind it. All while trying to keep off of the radars of Disney's deadly attack helicopters. Website: http://cheshirecatstudios.com Facebook: http://facebook.com/cheshirecatstudio Twitter: http://twitter.com/cheshirecatstud Tumblr: http://cheshirecatstudios.tumblr.com/ InvertedMind's DA Page: http://invertedmind-inc.deviantart.com Transcript: LaughingMan: So, who's lamenting the ending of their favorite television shows? CineMax: *Sigh* Yeah, breaking bad is over. So is Dexter. Kenny: Yeah, I'm sad Dexter is dead. LaughingMan: See, I never remember television shows ever getting this kind of mass following. Sure, a lot of old television shows had fans, but they never had fans like this. People who follow television shows on social media. There's even an April 2013 issue Wired Magazine that states that "We're currently living in the Platinum Age of Television" and that "Television has never been better." B-Mask: Hmm. Now I know we discussed this before, but I find it really interesting when people say that we live in a certain age, like platinum or golden. Because it's so subjective as a value. Kenny: Yeah. I mean, people will say that shows like Leave It to Beaver, The Honeeymooners, The Andy Griffith Show were the golden age of television and that we'll never get any better. But based on whose perspective? Based against what exactly? LaughingMan: Well, they're actually just gauging these things not by, you know, a value. They're gauging them by an anniversary. You know, the golden anniversary, the silver anniversary, the platinum anniversary. CineMax: But of course, what's interesting is that, unlike history, which always follows a consecutive order of sorts... You know, the stone age, the bronze age, the iron age. So it always kinda progresses forward. B-Mask: Yes. CineMax: However, when we discuss mediums such as movies, video games, or hell even comic books — it's the other way around. You know, like: "Hey! Here's the golden age of comic books." Okay, what's so special about the golden age of comic books? "Ummm. Well, you know, Superman lifted a car and threw it at someone! Oh, and Wonder Woman made a timely passing racist remark! LaughingMan: LOL. B-Mask: I'd like to just quickly add: I don't know if I've said this before on the show, but I still stand by what was once said by a friend of Jeremy Clarksons. He said that there never was a golden age of television. What happened was, was that we had all this stuff that was made back in the day, and you can count, like, ten good things in a decade. Whereas now what's happened is, because we are able to create more, we are able to produce more good content than we've ever had before. However, as a result, there's a fuck of a lot more dross because we're making as much bad as we are good. Kenny: Yeah. B-Mask: So it sorta equals out that way.