When I recently mentioned the Oscars to some friends, they lamented that they were boring. This seemed odd to me because I had just read an article that said the Oscar viewership ratings were up from last year. And as you can see from Alexa's graph, the website dedicated to the Academy Awards received a lot more traffic this year than last.
Now, why were there so many people watching them if they were boring? I mean, I had friends tell me they just weren't particularly interested in any of the movies up for consideration. And aside from the buzz around Slumdog Millionaire, I could see that might be a factor.
Another article, and many like it, made me realize that perhaps it's because the Oscars are free if you have television and everyone's strapped for cash. The article just glosses the situation by stating that television viewership is up to historic highs. "The average American is now watching more TV than ever," when we have all these other gadgets and gizmos to distract us? I know people who sold their gaming systems, though. If they don't like reading or crafts, they're probably spending more time in front of the tube.
If you do a search for the words "recession" and "entertainment," you will see tons of articles about the same thing. Movies are down, sports teams are down, restaurants are down--value stores and television are up. I know I have been spending more time cooking and feeding my NPR habit than eating out or going out. And even though I've been reading like a fiend ever since I got my Amazon Kindle, these last few months have been exceptional in terms of how much more I'm reading. I gather I'm not alone.
What are you doing with your leisure time now that things are tough all over? Are you cooking more? Cleaning more? Writing letters more? Surfing the web more? Facebooking more? Let us know in the comments.
