I wasn’t really surprised to read this morning that “TV has lowest-rated 
week ever” according to CNN.Com today. Are TV viewers finally turning to blogs for more of their news? This was the “least-watched week in recorded history for the four biggest broadcast networks. CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox averaged 20.8 million viewers during the average prime-time minute last week, according to Nielsen Media Research. That sunk below the previous record of 21.5 million, set during the last week of July in 2005.”
While Associated Press, who provided the story attributed the slump to “rerun season is in full swing and the public is consumed with outdoor activities,” I wonder if it has more to do with the shift away from TV’s monopoly on our time.
The brain registered this TV slump news in ways that might have people back less again next week because they made it through one good week without TV. Why so? People’s working memories take over when they step away from patterns such as TV watching… habits which are stored in the basal ganglia. It’s your basal ganglia that prompts you to pop the on button.
Begin to use your time in other ways , and you begin to start other habits that soon take over … even TV habits in your basal ganglia addiction files. Blog ... travel... read ... or exercise more and your working memory – which holds these new possibilities – will spill the ones you do often into your basal ganglia. There – you’ll start to enjoy life in new ways if you replace a near brainless use of time in front of TV screens… with mind benders that stretch, challenge and reward your brain with life changing health. That’s why low ratings could be good news for all of us. Ready to rewire your brain for another week and further deveop the new you?
Not having TV, spiritually, forces one to look within for inspiration, or, as you say, to the ’net, which is more involved. That can be a good thing, too.
Posted by: Jack Yan | July 13, 2006 3:19 AM | Permalink to Comment