Television has fragmented from a shared national culture into segmented audiences

Evidence

In the early 1950s two-thirds of all Americans tuned in and watched the top-rated program (I Love Lucy); in the early 1970s the top-rated program (All in the Family) drew about half of the national TV audience; by the mid-1990s the audience share of ER and Seinfeld was barely one-third. This trend toward market segmentation provides choice and presumably thus enhances consumer satisfaction, but it also undercuts TV’s once vaunted role in bringing us together. — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 846

Categorization

• DEFINE: Establishes what ‘water-cooler culture’ means as a concrete, quantified historical claim.
• XREF: connects to: Simultaneous mass attention on the same show created shared national identity — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 331; Attention industries both react to and actively create audience fragmentation — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 617; Cable networks rose by targeting demographic fragments instead of mass audiences — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 615 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Simultaneous mass attention on the same show created shared national identity #contradicts (0.92) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 331
• Cable networks rose by targeting demographic fragments instead of mass audiences #exemplifies (0.88) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 615
• Attention industries both react to and actively create audience fragmentation #corroborates (0.85) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 617