There are only a few weeks left in 2018, and pundits are putting out their year-end lists of the best and worst in TV. As new data from FX shows, that’s a lot more complicated than it used to be, because the sheer number of scripted shows is higher than it’s ever been. There were 495 in 2018, well over double what it was 15 years before.
Basically, there’s never a good reason to leave the house again.
As you could probably guess, the bulk of the new shows come from streaming services, which have exploded in popularity over the last handful of years. With 160 scripts shows, streaming services have a bigger share of the TV market than any other content creator; there are 146 shows on broadcast networks, 144 on basic cable and 45 on pay cable.
I always feel like I’m inundated with an unmanageable number of shows whenever I boot up Netflix; it’s good to know there’s real math behind it.
In contrast to the Netflixs and Hulus of the world, programming output from more traditional content creators has remained pretty steady, and even went down for basic cable networks — your MTVs, your A&Es — as they focus more on reality shows and acquisitions.
So what do we think? Are we living in a golden age of television or are we being buried underneath an avalanche of shows we’ll never be able to get to?
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h/t Variety