A new survey, reported on by Variety, suggests that the average American couldn’t care less about the “Golden Age Of TV,” with most respondents answering that they’ve never even heard of Emmy-nominated shows like The Handmaid’s Tale, Master Of None, or Atlanta. These aren’t tv-free snobs or total luddites, either; of the 500 respondents questioned by Katz Media Group, 51 percent had active Netflix subscriptions. (Which makes it extra baffling that 76 percent said they’d never even heard of Aziz Ansari’s Netflix exclusive Master Of None, which has been heavily promoted on the service.)
Unsurprisingly, the one series that most of the respondents either watch or had heard of was Modern Family, which 56 percent of respondents said they’d seen. Network series like This Is Us and Black-ish did relatively well, too, at least to the extent that people knew they existed. Things get more dicey out in streaming or cable land, though; only 5 or 6 percent of those surveyed had ever watched The Crown or Handmaid’s Tale, while cable shows like Westworld and Better Call Saul pulled 17 and 18 percent, respectively.
These trends are most interesting in light of the way streaming and cable show have overtaken the critical consensus, and the Emmy voters, in recent years. (For example: This Is Us is the first network show to be nominated for best drama since 2011, when The Good Wife got a nod.) But although TV insiders are clearly following prestige shows into cable and streaming, it sounds like the average viewer is still having trouble finding (or caring about) that top-quality stuff. (That being said, if this survey had taken place in a year where Game Of Thrones was eligible for Emmy consideration, we imagine these results would have skewed a little harder in cable’s direction.)
You can see the full results of the survey right here.