The TV networks curse the day DVRs and DVDs were invented, and hold them directly responsible for their problems. That so many TV addicts have flocked to recording-made-simple gadgets or DVDs, however, is merely a symptom, but not the actual cause of conventional TV's decline. Clearly, there is something that keeps pushing more and more people away and straight to broadband downloads, DVDs, TiVos or video-on-demand and cable channels.

In the golden age of television, networks would produce about 39 weeks of original episodes, instead of today's 22. Back then, viewers actually got their money's worth, because they were not forced to sit through too many reruns, and, more importantly, their shows were not constantly shuffled around the schedule the way they are today.

In fact, not too long ago, television was "by appointment". People knew where and when to find their favorite shows, and they would all "meet" in front of their TVs, collectively, and then discuss whatever show they were watching around the water cooler the next day. Dallas was such "by-appointment television" (Fridays at 10pm). If Dallas were still on the air today, though, viewers would have a hard time finding it on the dial: one week, it would be on at 10pm on a Friday, then be shifted to, say, 8pm, only to end up on Tuesdays at 9pm for several weeks. This would be followed by an unexpected hiatus of three, maybe four, weeks, and then the show would reappear in its brand new timeslot of Mondays at 10pm.

This, essentially, is what is being done to almost all shows on all networks today. Viewers start watching a new show, but then "lose" it, because the network keeps playing peek-a-boo with them.

Also, during the golden years of television, network executives had a lot more patience. Even if a show did not quite perform as well as had been expected, they stuck it out and, if things really got too bad, canceled it at the end of the season. Today, however, a new show can be axed as early as a few minutes after its debut broadcast. Before long, viewers will tune in to a new show and, following the first commercial break, see a screen that says, "Unfortunately, viewer response during the first segment of this show has been unsatisfactory, which is why we have had to cancel it effective immediately. We will now fill the remaining 23 minutes of this broadcast with the national anthem on a loop."