The Trendsetting United States of TV

The changes that the American TV landscape has undergone will soon arrive in Poland. In fact, they are here already. Welcome to the golden age of the TV show.

In the latter part of September, America experienced the trauma of the passing of Walter White. The “Breaking Bad” series season finale gripped the American audience in a way few shows before it could have. The show was analyzed from every possible angle, and critics have regarded it as the pinnacle of American television.

Right after “Breaking Bad” ended, new shows began to vie for the loyalty of the masses. The American audience wanted to end its mourning and find another TV god. This sparked a ratings war. While [this competition is not] new, the rules of this encounter certainly are.

Audience Size Does Not Matter

It has been often said that we live in a golden age of television. The selection of top-notch shows is truly astounding, with TV critics watching over 30 hours of TV a week. If they want to stay current, they had better empty their calendars.

However, audience size no longer determines whether a particular series wins accolades or awards. At the top of the audience pyramid there is “NCIS,” a classic procedural crime drama, and “The Big Bang Theory.” Each has about 17 to 18 million viewers per episode. Most “Breaking Bad” episodes garnered about 2 million.

This disparity can be easily explained however. “Breaking Bad,” like most of the highest rated shows, is released on cable (AMC), which can only dream of the reach of the basic TV stations. The “big three” of American television — CBS, NBC and ABC — usually prefer to air shows about cops. Having a gangster as a main character? Yes, please.

Big and Not So Conservative

The boundaries between the big and small players are rapidly shifting. HBO, which gave us “Sex and the City” and “The Sopranos,” achieved success by betting on bold, new storylines. Only then did the TV world see that being original really pays off. “Breaking Bad” proved this, pulling in 10 million viewers for its season finale. And “The Walking Dead,” another AMC original, has a larger viewership than many shows of the “big three.”

Shonda Rhimes, the creator of “ER” and “Scandal” (airing on ABC), says that the “big three” are becoming more open to unconventional shows. “Scandal” was certainly a great example, which started out tamely enough and now has become one of the crown jewels of the ABC lineup.

Easy and Intriguing

The latest new shows on mainstream television have done well so far. NBC put out its drama series “The Blacklist,” starring James Spader. In a nod to the changing times, Spader plays a criminal mastermind.

“The Blacklist” has competition from “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” (ABC), Marvel comics, as well as “Dracula,” starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who previously played Henry in “The Tudors.” When we take into account other new shows, such as “Sleepy Hollow,” a tale of a Civil War soldier fighting demons in the 21st century as well as CW’s “The Originals,” a spin-off of “Vampire Diaries,” we can see that American audiences are all about fantasy.

The Internet Steps Up

Until recently, many industry experts predicted that the Internet would make television obsolete. However, the humble TV has adapted to modern times quite well. DVR has become standard, and it is entirely normal for people to record and watch shows at their convenience, with those later views counting toward the ratings. Thanks to this simple invention, more people have been watching television in America, and its reception has begun to resemble that of Internet services like Hulu or Netflix.

Netflix has also changed the game lately, upending what was previously a closed and tidy system. Internet providers such as Netflix have traditionally been the middlemen of shows produced by TV. However, the debut of “House of Cards,” awarded with an Emmy, has upended the traditional order and increased competition.

Netflix has certainly not been resting on its laurels. It has resurrected the previously canceled “Arrested Development” and continued to make original shows, such as “Hemlock Grove” and “Orange Is the New Black.”

“Orange” is a prime example of the new era of content. The show breaks many taboos, raises sensitive social issues and portrays a protagonist who is nonexistent on network TV. Even the neurotic nymphomaniac from HBO’s “Girls” pales in comparison.

“Orange” has become a success and, according to Netflix, has garnered more views than “House of Cards.” How much bigger is a mystery, as Netflix is not obligated to release those figures. This has ruffled feathers, especially at HBO, which is the surest sign that Netflix is doing something right. It seems that the struggle for American television dominance has turned into all-out war.