Before radio and television, few people shared the same entertainment. There simply wasn't the opportunity for thousands, let alone millions, of people to listen to or watch the same entertainers. Along came radio, and movies, and television, and suddenly everyone knew Glenn Miller tunes or “The Wizard of Oz” or the Milton Berle’s “Show of Shows.”
That didn’t last very long, in historical terms. In the Sixties, there were basically three networks–NBC, CBS, ABC. Each of those presented reasonably objective news. Radio had top ten hits; everyone knew “Love Me Tender” or “Yesterday.” One-third of the population tuned into “All in the Family” on television.
According to Farhood Manjoo’s essay “What’s on Netflix?” (Times, Jan 12, 2017, p. B1, 5), only about 12 percent of TVs were turned to “NCIS” or “The Big Bang Theory.” Those were the most popular shows in 2015-16. Given those numbers, in 2000 those shows would not have been in the top ten.
Nobody listens to the same tunes any more. Quick, name the top hit that everyone is singing. As for movies, very few are “must see” with audiences standing in line in the cold, like I did in the 60s in State College when the new James Bond movie came out. As for news, we have conservative news outlets and liberal news outlets.
The nation is fragmented. We have little in common. We are descending into tribalism. Meryl Streep makes fun of TV wrestling fans, and wrestling fans wonder who the heck is Meryl Streep. Some areas of the country are big fans of “Duck Dynasty” while other sections watch “Modern Family.” Personally, I have never seen “Game of Thrones” or “Empire” because I can’t even get them on my TV.
We no longer share very much. This is not a good thing. It is reflected in our politics, where in a few days a large group of my fellow citizens will be celebrating Trump’s inaugural, and I will be drinking myself into a stupor.
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