During the 1988 writers strike, TV viewers sick of watching reruns found themselves turning to Fox's raunchy new sitcom "Married With Children."
The budding Fox network was struggling and, like its bigger rivals, had resorted to rerunning episodes when viewers discovered henpecked shoe salesman Al Bundy and his Spandex-clad wife, Peg. Their quirky appeal helped brand the "fourth" network as an iconoclast, able to take on ABC, CBS and NBC.
Now when it comes to a breakout hit propelling an upstart media challenger, you're more likely to be ogling "Obama Girl" on YouTube.com.
The 3-month-old strike officially ended late Tuesday, when members of the Writers Guild of America voted overwhelmingly to go back to work. One question that lingers is whether viewers will return to broadcast TV after many became tired of repeats and turned off the tube.
During the writers strike, people watched a record number of online videos. Teens spent more time primping their pages on social networking websites such as MySpace. Online game-playing surged. Cable networks attracted more channel surfers. And even DVD sales, which had been in slow decline, ticked up in January.
These shifts in leisure activity can't necessarily be pegged to the walkout. But the network TV doldrums created by the lack of new shows accelerated the splintering of the audience. It illustrated the myriad entertainment choices available and the challenges ahead for the broadcast networks as they try to woo viewers back.
That doesn't mean viewers won't return once new episodes of such popular network shows as "Grey's Anatomy," "House" or "Heroes" air, say media analysts. But the network television audience -- if not television altogether -- is unlikely to snap back to pre-strike levels, they add. And so far, the smattering of new and returning series, such as ABC's "Cashmere Mafia," have had a tough time attracting viewers.
"Since the 1980s, every time viewers leave the broadcast networks for a strike, summer reruns or any other cause, they never return in the same numbers, and over the years that gradual erosion has become enormously significant," said Jeffrey Cole, director of USC's Center for the Digital Future.
"In 1975, the three broadcast networks accounted for 90% of all television viewing," he said. Today, the five networks rarely account for more than half.
