Viewers abandoning Fox network in droves

Fox News may be the kingpin among national news networks, but the Fox network itself is not doing so hot, according to Businessweek:

News Corp.’s Fox network has lost almost 17 percent of its young-adult viewers five weeks into the television season, a drop that threatens to dethrone the ratings leader after six years.

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Fox’s decline this year is underscored by shrinking audiences for the medical show “House” and the long-running “The Simpsons.” Newer animated shows “Family Guy” and “The Cleveland Show” are down 15 percent and 31 percent respectively, according to Nielsen data.

It's not hard to see why Fox is in trouble. The Simpsons and House are long past their "best before" dates -- The Simpsons hasn't been funny in at least a decade. Juvenile "Family Guy"-style cartoons are starting to wear quite thin -- and Fox has three such shows in their lineup ("The Cleveland Show" and "American Dad!" being the others).

American Idol is looking increasingly dated. Meanwhile, the World Series - contested last year by team from two huge television audiences in New York and Philadelphia - is being waged by smaller cities this time around.

Businessweek notes one bright spot:

A bright spot in Fox’s ratings has been continued growth for the audience of the musical comedy “Glee.” The show, now in its second year, is rated fourth among 18-to-49-year-olds with a 39 percent increase in viewers, according to the network.

To further showcase the program, Fox plans to air an episode after its Super Bowl telecast, Beckman said.

Glee is a fun show, but one gets the feeling that it will start to get old after a while. It's shallow on plot and thick on gimmicks.

Times are changing quickly. The young people that bought into the silly shows that made Fox a ratings winner in the 00s are getting old and moving on. There seems to be nothing out there that could appeal to a younger generation that grew up with Web 2.0 (yes, grew up with Web 2.0...you are getting old). Network television is already losing its audience to cable stations and other electronic distractions, and the folks in charge don't seem to have a clue how to keep the viewers they have left.